Never Say Never
by ilovenaley
Summary: AU Nathan and Haley. Nathan stumbles upon a list Haley wrote that was never meant to be seen, which results in some drastic changes in their friendship.
1. Chapter 1

**AN – I know, I know, I must be crazy, starting ANOTHER story. But this idea came to me while I was sat at work and I got so excited about it, told a few people what I had planned and then got even more excited with their encouragement as the plot kind of developed in my head, and then I seemed to have no choice but to just write a little bit of it down. And then before I knew it the first chapter kind of decided that it needed to be written in its entirety. I swear I seem to have no control over my fingers and what they type!**

**So here is the first chapter of this story. It's going to be another long chapter fic. It's AU, Nathan and Haley, but in a way that I haven't written them before, which I think, is why I'm so excited about it.**

**I'm throwing this out as a warning to you all. This is going to get very smutty. It's rated M for a reason.**

**A big thank you goes out to Rebecca, who is amazing and read through this for me before posting and also helped me come up with the title. And also Kristen who read through this for me too… thank you so much girlies!**

**Right, so I guess all that's left for me to do is say that I hope you all enjoy this! And oh my gosh I am so nervous!!! Eeek!**

**Chapter One **

"Shit." Nathan mumbled to himself as he squeezed his way out of the busy elevator as soon as the doors had opened wide enough for him to slip through them. He glanced down at his watch as he ran across the marble floored lobby and visibly winced at the time. He was late and if there was one thing in the world that he hated, it was being late. Lateness implied bad planning; it was rude and unorganised and went against everything that he valued in his life at the moment. Not that he could have helped being late, he had reasons, important reasons for his delay, but nonetheless, he knew that his excuses wouldn't wash with Haley, and especially not with Brooke.

He ran through the revolving door to the office building he worked in, probably hurting whoever was behind him in the process but he didn't really care about that, he didn't even glance behind his shoulder to see if anyone had just walked through the door and consequently had their face smashed by the glass. He only concentrated on getting to the bar as quickly as was possible. He could feel his phone vibrating in the pocket of his suit and he knew that he should answer it, but he didn't, as he already knew that it would be Brooke calling. She had phoned him literally a million times in the last half an hour, leaving countless messages most likely for the sole purpose of berating him for being late to the weekly tradition that had been set up by his close group of friends ever since they had all reunited in New York since leaving college. It was, by now, something that they all considered to be an age-old tradition even though it had only been a couple of years since they had left their college days behind them. And God forbid if you turned up to this event late, that was seen as a crime punishable in the cruellest of ways, it meant your credit card ending up paying for the whole of the nights festivities.

He ran across the road and thanked God that his office was situated only a couple of blocks away from the bar they had chosen to hold this weekly event in all those years ago. He very nearly got himself knocked over by two cars in the process of running across the busy road, to which the cars beeped furiously at him and he held up his hands in an apology, however he still didn't relent in the pace that his legs were currently carrying him. He rounded the corner and burst through the door to the bar, instantly spotting his friends who were sitting at the usual table in the right hand corner, just like every Friday night. He was huffing and puffing as he made his way over and could see Brooke looking at him with an accusatory raised eyebrow, her arms folded across her chest. To say she was the ringleader would be an understatement of epic proportions; she was the Master when it came to this weekly event. "I know, I know, I'm late." Nathan admitted as he leaned his arms on his legs, trying to catch his breath as he sucked the air into his mouth deeply, trying to get the oxygen flowing into his lungs again. God he really did need to get down to the gym a little more, either that or use that ridiculous moonwalker thing that Haley had insisted they place bang smack in the middle of their apartment. He was still bitter about that damn thing, if he'd have been listening to her instead of being engrossed in a game of Gran Turismo, he might have had the sense to say no, but she'd been blocking his view of the TV screen and there was no way he was going to lose to Jake of all people, so he had shouted at her to move out of the way, agreeing to whatever the hell she was harping on about in the process. The next day he had walked into the apartment and found this monstrosity of a machine taking up half of the lounge area, bang smack in front of his dart board. He'd only seen her use the fucking thing once.

"So what caused you to be late this time?" Brooke asked him. "Did somebody's stapler run out of staples? Did someone have a major freak out because they couldn't find a clean pad of paper?" She continued in a sarcastic voice.

Nathan looked up from where he had buried his head between his arms and rolled his eyes at Brooke. "Very funny Davis. Aren't you ever going to let that go? I had to run to the stationery store to get the damn staples once, and that bitch Rachel that had the freak out, left the company within my first week of working there, three years ago! I haven't had to go on a stapler run in a very long time thank you very much." He returned to her. "And for your information, I had to stay late because I had a meeting with my manager, who had some good news to tell me."

"What, that the delivery of paperclips had finally arrived?" Peyton clipped in as the whole table dissolved into laughter.

"Or did you run out of sugar by the coffee machine?" Lucas added as he continued to chuckle along with his friends.

Obviously the fact that he had some good news to tell them didn't matter in the slightest. Nathan breathed in deeply, having heard all of their jovial banter at his expense many times before, and he was sure that this wasn't going to be the last time he heard their sarcasm either, before he glared over at Peyton and Lucas while he geared himself up to start the well rehearsed speech. "Come on guys! Just because none of you fools work in a corporate environment, don't take the fact that I have one of the highest paying jobs out of all of you…"

Everyone seated at the table faked a yawn and then pretended to fall asleep, even throwing in a few snores here and there. They had heard this sermon from Nathan a thousand times before and then didn't plan on ever hearing it again if it could be helped.

Nathan chuckled at their reaction, pleased that his words had ceased their teasing, for now at least. "Who wants a drink?" He asked and laughed when everyone perked up at the mention of more alcohol, which never failed as way to move the topic of conversation off the choice of his career and onto other mundane but entertaining banter.

"Well given that you are late, I believe that it's your credit card being placed on the tab behind the bar tonight, so I think I'll push the boat out and take a bottle of their finest champagne, you know, given that you have one of the highest paying jobs out of all of us and all." Lucas replied, before chuckling as he threw his earlier words back in Nathan's face.

Nathan raised his eyebrow at his brother and then rolled his eyes when the rest of the table sniggered at his suggestion. "Fine; champagne it is, with five glasses I take it?" He asked as he moved his eyes around the table. He'd noticed that she wasn't here when he had first walked in, but thought that maybe she had gone to the restrooms or something, but he realised that too much time had passed for that to be the case. "By the way, where's Hales? She didn't tell me that she wouldn't be here tonight?"

Brooke smiled brightly over at Nathan, too excited to contain herself. "Haley is currently being picked up by this great guy that I worked with last week." She responded as she looked down at her watch, taking note of the time. "Oh no, by now they should just about be walking into the restaurant." She corrected herself as she jumped up and down in her seat and let out a little squeal of delight.

Nathan couldn't help but roll his eyes at her enthusiasm and hated being the one to dampen it. Hell, who was he kidding, he fucking loved it. "Brooke, are you sure that this time the guy really is a 'great guy'? Every single man you have tried to set Haley up with since the whole Chase debacle has ended in absolute disaster! Remind me, how many of your dates has she actually seen through to the end?"

Brooke furrowed her brow at him and crossed her arms over her chest protectively against his attack of her matchmaking abilities. "Well at least I'm trying to get her back out there Nathan; no one else is helping her!" She defended herself as she looked accusingly around the table, only to be met with downcast eyes from everyone except Nathan, who was staring right at her self-righteously. "And for your information, she has completed at least three of the dates that I've set up for her…"

"Yeah three out of like five hundred!" Nathan interrupted with a scoff. "Hardly a good track record is it? Why you don't just leave her alone I'll never know. She'll meet someone when she's ready to..."

"Which is three more than you can bring to the table. In fact it's three more than any of you can bring to the table!" Brooke continued, shouting above Nathan's voice as she looked around at everyone that was currently sat at their table, pointing at them all with her finger, but they were seemingly choosing to ignore the discussion that was being held at the head of the table, and they were probably right not to get involved. It wouldn't end well. The topic of Haley's love life never ended well and they weren't going to allow themselves to be sucked into the conversation. "She needs to find someone; she's been single for too long now."

"Hey! I've been single for longer than Haley has." Nathan threw back at her, feeling the need to defend his single status. "Not everyone is looking for someone you know Brooke. Some people have responsibilities, careers to concentrate on..."

"Yeah but you're an ass!" Brooke clipped back. "You are single because you're an ass. Haley doesn't need to be single. She's ready to move on; she has been for a long time now, and trust me, once she gets back to the apartment, hopefully tomorrow morning," she said as she winked at Nathan before continuing, "she won't be able to shut up about this guy. He is great!"

Nathan shut his mouth, shook his head at her and then turned around to walk up to the bar, ordering the champagne once he had received the barman's attention and handing over his credit card as he set up a tab. He then carried the champagne and the five glasses back to the table as an idea formed in his head. No one knew Haley better than he did and he already knew exactly how her evening would end without knowing a thing about the guy she had gone out with, there was no need for a crystal ball or any of that shit. "I bet you one hundred dollars that she texts one of us within the next fifteen minutes." He said as he slammed the bottle down on the table and smiled over at Brooke, who grabbed the bottle of champagne and poured it into the glasses, seemingly ignoring Nathan, who knew exactly what she was up to. "What's the matter Brooke? I thought this guy was 'great'?"

Brooke placed the bottle inside the cooler and glared up at Nathan. "He is a great guy." She said as she smiled back at him. "I just don't want to bet on Haley's love life, that's all." She responded as she flicked her hair over her shoulder and turned towards Lucas, hoping that Nathan would take the hint and drop it; only she knew he wouldn't, Nathan never took hints, and he was far too stubborn to drop a bet.

"Bullshit. You know as well as I do that she won't see this date through to the end. But if you're so confident, why not put your money where your mouth is?" Nathan goaded her, already feeling the fattening of his wallet in his back pocket, five crisp twenty dollar notes would do him very nicely, and they would feel even better than they normally did, given that they would have come right out of Brooke's bank account.

Brooke sighed before turning back around to face Nathan. "Fine." She said as she reached out her hand and shook his, wanting to end his rant, and she knew that the only way to get him to shut up would be to accept this stupid bet of his. And she really should win. The guy was great. Tall, dark and handsome; every woman's dream. Haley would be a fool if she didn't see this one through to the end. "One hundred dollars that she doesn't text one of us in the next fifteen minutes."

"Done." Nathan returned as he shook her hand and then grinned like a Cheshire cat when he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He laughed and shook his head, knowing immediately that he was now a hundred dollars richer, or at least balanced out, the money would pay for the champagne he'd just bought. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone, raising his eyebrows over at Brooke, silently telling her to hand over the money right now as he saw that he had just received a text from Haley. He opened the message and read it out loud. "Call in two minutes and tell Brooke I am going to kill her. H"

"Damn it!" Brooke muttered as the whole table now laughed at her. She looked down at her watch and noticed the time, groaning in frustration. "She can't have even opened her stupid menu yet! What is her problem?"

"Maybe it's not her, Brooke; maybe it's this 'great guy' that you set her up with." Nathan returned as he downed his champagne in triumph.

"Damien is a great guy though!" Brooke whined as she reached into her purse and took out a hundred dollars and placed it in Nathan's waiting hand reluctantly. She'd been saving up for the damn handbag and hated seeing a good chunk of her hard work being shoved into his ridiculously expensive suit pocket.

"Haley obviously didn't think so." Jake chipped in before quickly hiding behind Peyton, unsure of why he had felt the need to say that to Brooke when she was already annoyed, he hadn't meant to throw any more fuel on her already raging fire.

"And who asked your opinion Jageilski?" Brooke snapped as she turned her head in his direction.

"Come on baby; don't get pissed just because you lost a bet." Lucas said as he wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her towards him, placing a kiss on the top of her head once it was leaning on his shoulder, hoping that his display of affection would calm her down somewhat. He knew how much the handbag meant to her.

Nathan placed his now empty champagne glass down on the table and picked up his phone, pressing down the number 2 button which was his speed dial coded to Haley's mobile. She picked up after the very first ring. "Hey Hales!" Nathan said in an amused tone as he winked over at Brooke, who was listening intently to his conversation with Haley, just to wind her up that little bit more.

"Hi Nathan, what's wrong? I told you not to call unless it was an emergency." Haley said as she sat across from what had to be the creepiest and slimiest guy she had ever had the displeasure of laying her eyes on. He kept looking at her like she was a piece of meat or something, he had that arrogant glint in his eyes like he knew that he was going to get some later which infuriated Haley immensely as there was no way that she was going to give him anything, other than roughly three more minutes of her company while she waited for a cab which quite frankly, he should be grateful for. They had only been seated at the table for about five minutes but if he tried to rub his leg against hers one more time she was going to kick him where it hurt.

"I take it the date isn't going well then?" Nathan asked as he bit back the laughter. He'd done this for Haley so many times over the past year; he could tell when things were going bad, really bad or disastrously bad, he'd created his own little scale of ranking the 'disturb the date' phone calls.

"Oh my gosh! She's in the hospital? How the hell did she manage to do that?" Haley gasped as she looked apologetically over at Damian and mouthed a 'sorry' towards him. "Is she okay?" She asked in a shocked tone. She had this routine down to perfection, and so she should, the number of times she'd had to use the excuses over the past year was astronomical.

Nathan chuckled; she was using the hospital emergency excuse, which meant things were going disastrously bad. "That bad huh? Well we're in the bar, as usual, jump in a cab and get your ass down here." He laughed. "I can't wait to hear what was wrong with this one."

"Okay, well tell her I'll be right there and make sure she's okay in the meantime. Bye." Haley said as she hung up her phone.

Nathan hung up his phone and placed it back in his pocket. He then reached over the table and grabbed the bottle of champagne, poured himself another glass and then took a sip of it, smirking quietly to himself as four sets of eyes watched him in anticipation, waiting for him to speak. He placed the glass back down on the table and then sat back in his chair, folding his arms across his chest.

"Well?" Peyton finally asked, unable to wait any longer.

Nathan turned around to address the whole table, not taking his eyes off Brooke; he knew that she was going to be pissed off immensely about this. "The hospital excuse." Nathan returned before collapsing in a fit of giggles as Brooke scowled at him.

"What?" Brooke whined. "That girl has a serious problem. There is absolutely nothing wrong with Damien."

"Haley obviously seems to think there is." Jake threw back at her.

Brooke turned around in her seat and glared at him. "Once again, who the fuck asked for your opinion, Jageliski?" She snapped at him. "And I can't believe I've just had to give a hundred dollars to your corporate ass." She huffed at Nathan.

"You didn't give the money to me Brooke, you lost it to me." Nathan smirked at her before getting up from the table and ordering another bottle of champagne from the bar, grabbing a glass for Haley as he did so, figuring that she'd probably need it once she finally got here.

~*~

"Are you sure you have to go?" Damien asked as he slipped his arm around Haley's waist while they waited by the curb outside of the restaurant.

"My friend is in hospital Damien, so yes, I need to go, I'm sorry for ruining our evening." Haley responded distractedly as she flung her arm out into the road, trying to hail a cab. Why was it that when you needed a cab there didn't seem to be one anywhere, yet when you didn't need one, five thousand seemed to whiz by you? She groaned to herself in frustration as she tried to worm her way out of Damien's grasp, who was trying to pull her into him as she prayed for a cab to round the corner. She'd read somewhere that there were over 13,000 yellow cabs in this fucking city, and not one of them had passed her in the last five minutes.

"Well why don't we walk to my place and I can take you to the hospital myself, I live like four blocks from here." Damien offered. She seemed really distressed about the situation, and as much as he had been hoping for some ass tonight, he realised that it probably wasn't going to happen, but maybe if he played the concerned friend, he might get lucky next time, or later, if her friend wasn't too badly hurt and she wasn't too emotional about it all. "What happened to your friend anyway?"

His hand was wondering dangerously low over her back and she knew exactly where it was headed. _Don't do it, don't do it. _She repeated to herself as she closed her eyes for a brief second, just waiting for it to happen. Because of course it was going to happen. Men like Damien were all the same. Her friend could be in a coma or something for all he knew and all he was thinking about was sex. It really was disgusting. And there it was; the hand was now on her ass. She grimaced and then rejoiced internally as she saw a yellow bonnet round the corner and she waved her hand frantically, jumping away from him in the process, never more grateful that she was in that moment as she saw the yellow light of the indicator blink at her as the driver pulled the car over, stopping beside her. She turned around to face Damien who was looking expectantly at her.

"So shall I call you to rearrange?" Damien asked hopefully as he pulled out his phone and looked at his calendar on it. "I'm free on Tuesday if you are? Or I can do Thursday, Friday or Sunday?"

Haley couldn't believe the audacity on this man. Did he really think that this had gone well? Did he honestly think that she wanted to spend another second in his chauvinistic, presumptuous company? "Can I see your phone a minute?" She asked sweetly as she smiled up at him with what she hoped was a sexy look. Hell, she didn't really know what the fuck she was doing but it seemed to work as he handed the phone over to her and bounced on his feet like a puppy being offered a treat. She took the phone from him and scrolled down to her number, pressing the delete button when she found her name, and handed the phone back to him. "Damien, I'm not free to see you on Tuesday, or Thursday, or even Friday and Sunday for that matter. I don't want to rearrange this craptastic date; in fact, I don't ever want to see you again. So I've deleted my number from your phone and I suggest you turn around, walk back into that restaurant and try your luck with the waitress you were leering at earlier, because you sure as hell won't ever be getting lucky with me. Goodnight." She finished as she turned on her heel and marched her way to the cab, slamming the door shut behind her, leaving Damien standing on the sidewalk in complete shock at her words. She visibly shuddered and took a calming breath, glad to be free from his revolting company as she looked pensively out of the window. Brooke Davis was a dead woman as far as she was concerned.

~*~

Nathan was sitting with his back to the door, quietly tapping his foot to the music that was playing through the speakers as he sipped on his champagne. He was deep in thought, eyes closed, thinking about the kind of designs he wanted to use for his latest project. He was so proud of himself for being given this huge opportunity, he knew how rare it was for someone that had only been involved with the company for so few years to land such a huge account and he was nothing but grateful to his bosses for it. Sure, it would mean a lot of hard work, but he was anything but shy about that. Ever since he had left college he had thrown himself into his work wholeheartedly and it seemed that now, it was starting to pay dividends. He relished in the opportunity to completely revamp his client's brand, he'd been itching to get his hands on something like this for a while now. They needed a whole new colour scheme, blues might work well…

"Brooke Davis I swear to God I am going to kill you."

Nathan was immediately jolted out of his work induced haze, hearing Haley's voice screech over the noise of the bar and he swivelled around in his seat just in time to see her finish off her march across the bar. He looked down quickly at what she was wearing, and frowned as he couldn't place her clothes, was that dress new? She was pointing furiously at Brooke and he almost felt sorry for her, knowing instantly that Haley was pissed beyond reason. He'd had to bear her fury more times that he would like to admit to, and it was not a pretty sight. Usually she was irritated after these dates, especially after the ones that ended so early, but this was something different in its entirety. It seemed she had reached the end of her tether, and was ready to snap at any given second.

Haley was almost shaking with how angry she was. She had finally reached the table and was vaguely aware that she was causing a scene, but she didn't really care, all she cared about was getting her point across to Brooke. "A 'great' guy. You said he was a great fucking guy Brooke." She shouted at her as she stood by the edge of the table, towering over her so-called friend. She wasn't sure what Brooke was to her at the moment, a glorious pain in the ass wouldn't be too far from the truth. "Are you out of your fucking mind?" She screeched.

Brooke sunk in her chair and gulped as she looked away from Haley, scared to meet her eyes. "But Damien is a great guy." She muttered quietly, unsure of whether she was speaking to herself or trying to defend him to Haley.

"Do you call someone who gropes your ass while winking and drooling over the waitress a great guy Brooke, huh? In my book that makes him nothing more than a fucking asshole." Haley yelled as she ran a hand through her hair in frustration at the crap situation she had once again found herself in, all due to her being forced into it by Brooke. She was getting sick and tired of it all.

"Haley I'm sure that he wasn't drooling over the waitress." Brooke returned as she sat up straight and perked up at what she had heard Haley say. "He was touching your ass though? That's a good sign, Haley, and rightly so, I knew the dress would look hot on you."

"You are completely unbelievable." Haley returned, completely exasperated with all this shit. "I do not want to be manhandled by someone I have barely been in the company of for five minutes; it's rude and completely disgusting!"

"For God's sake Haley, will you stop being such a prude?" Brooke said as she rolled her eyes at her friend. "You're twenty five years old, not twelve, so he touched your ass, big fucking deal!"

"It is a big fucking deal Brooke. I want to be treated with some respect, not like I'm some new toy that's being paraded around and on show for everyone to stare at." Haley retorted, her jaw clenched tightly as she breathed in and out deeply, trying to keep a hold on her emotions. "He was an absolute dick!"

"And you got all that in what, the five minutes that you allowed him to bask in your self-righteous company? Did you even manage to order your food?" Brooke asked sarcastically, glaring at Haley. She was only trying to help her, how could she not see that?

"No actually, I hadn't even opened the menu when I sent the text." Haley returned with a raised eyebrow, knowing that Brooke wouldn't like that little revelation but she really couldn't give a shit at the moment. Didn't she deserve someone better, someone who wasn't a creep and actually had some manners and decency about them?

"For crying out loud Haley!" Brooke cried out. "How can you be so judgemental, you didn't even give him a chance?"

"I gave him plenty of time to make a good impression Brooke, believe me." Haley returned before sighing deeply, trying to control the rapid beating of her heart, she really was furious with Brooke.

"Well how did you leave things? Maybe you can give it another go and see what you think about him the second time around." Brooke questioned. She really was sure that Damien was a good idea for Haley, even if it wasn't anything serious, at least she could have some fun with him. She needed it that was for sure.

"I don't think so. I deleted my number from his phone, told him that I never wanted to see him again and suggested that he went back inside and tried to chat up the waitress he'd been drooling over." Haley returned smugly.

Nathan had to laugh at that one. That was pure Haley, right there. And it seemed that the rest of the table knew it too, as everyone had dissolved into a fit of giggles, everyone except Brooke, that is.

"You did what?" Brooke shouted incredulously. "Jesus Christ Haley!"

"What?" Haley shrugged indifferently. She hadn't liked the dude, period. She knew in the little time that she had spent in his putrid company that she would never want to even lay eyes on him ever again, so what the hell was the problem? "You were the one told me to be more 'out there' with my feelings, to let people know what was running through my mind. I was just making sure that he heard me, loud and clear."

"I didn't mean it like that Haley!" Brooke cried out in frustration. "I mean, seriously Haley, when was the last time you even had sex?"

Nathan immediately shifted his gaze to Haley upon hearing Brooke's words, and he saw the flash of emotion that clouded over her eyes, even though it only showed for the briefest of seconds. For all the bravado and front she displayed, he knew that deep down she was as insecure as the next girl, in fact probably more so. He saw deeper inside of her, he saw past it all and he knew that Brooke's words had caused those doubts to resurface again. He could see her trying to push them back down, she was trying desperately to tuck them away into the far corners of her mind, and he absolutely hated the flash of pain that had just marred her features. He moved his gaze back to Brooke, who was waiting expectantly for an answer from her and he jumped in before Haley even had a chance to formulate a response. "Brooke." He reprimanded her sternly.

Haley could feel that tightening feeling in her chest. It was twisting and starting to constrict, making it harder for her to breathe. She knew exactly what Brooke was doing, but no matter how many times she heard it, it still stung. She lowered her gaze to the floor, not wanting Nathan to see how affected she was by her question, but it seemed that he had already noticed, as she heard him caution Brooke, letting her know not to push this any further. She supposed that she should be grateful to him for intervening. But she felt nothing more than pathetic.

Brooke heard Nathan but she didn't relent in her rant. She wanted to pick Haley up and shake her around, knock some sense into her; she wanted to see her live a little. It had been a whole year, and she was so desperate to see her friend happy again. She had been trying for what seemed like an eternity to get her back in the circuit, setting her up on dates, telling her about all the cute guys she worked with but nothing had prevailed into anything. She always managed to come up with a bunch of excuses, none of which made any sense to Brooke at all, and Haley always ended up pushing everyone she threw at her away with not so much as a second thought. How could she expect to move on, if she wouldn't allow anyone in? She continued to stare at her friend, knowing what she needed to say. It was the giant elephant in the room; it had been the giant elephant for a whole freaking year now. She took a deep breath before speaking. "Haley, you need to stop closing yourself off from everyone and open up to somebody, you need to let somebody in. Not everyone is going to be like Chase."

Haley stiffened at the mention of his name. That myriad of emotions started to whirl deep inside her stomach, she should be stronger than this, it shouldn't still affect her in this way but as she felt the tears begin to form in her eyes, she knew that she was absolutely helpless to stop any of it. Brooke had hit the nail on the head. And she still didn't want to hear any of it. She looked up from her position on the floor and quickly turned around and walked up to the bar, needing to get herself away from it all. She sat down on one of the barstools and ordered herself a straight vodka, she needed something to take the pain away.

"For fucks sake Brooke, why can't you keep your fucking mouth shut?" Nathan hissed at her across the table as he watched Haley walk up to the bar. He closed his eyes briefly and took a deep breath, needing to stop himself from lunging across the table at her.

Brooke sat back in her seat, feeling a little bit shit at hurting Haley with her words, but she was too proud to let Nathan see that. She folded her arms protectively around herself. "Nathan I didn't say anything that wasn't true." She replied defiantly.

Nathan sighed. "Brooke, I know that, you know that, everyone sat at this damn table knows that. But for crying out loud. Have a bit of fucking tact about it. Haley will move on when she's ready. Maybe if you stopped throwing men down her throat she'd be able to sort her internal conflict out on her own, and in her own time instead of feeling pressured by you to do it in the next five seconds." He spat at her before standing up from his seat, picking up his champagne glass and walking towards Haley who was now seated at the bar.

"Internal… what the hell are you going on about Nathan?" Brooke called out to him, but it seemed that all his focus was now on Haley as he didn't bother to turn around and explain it to her.

The barman placed the vodka down on the bar, jolting Haley out of her thoughts. She didn't even acknowledge him as she pointed over to the table and mumbled something incoherent, which he seemed to understand as 'I'm with them and a tab should be set up'. She stared down into the clear liquid, wishing that her brain were as translucent, everything seemed to be a jumbled mess to her. She reached up and wiped at her eyes, catching the tears before they fell down her face.

Nathan sat down in the bar stool next to her, placed his drink down on the bar and let out a long breath before nudging her with his shoulder affectionately. "You okay gorgeous?" He asked, knowing that she wasn't, but also knowing that she'd nod her head anyway.

Haley breathed in deeply before nodding her head and smiling sadly over at Nathan. She felt him wrap his arm around her shoulder and he pulled her into his chest, placing a kiss on the top of her head. She instantly felt better than she had; he always seemed to have this calming effect on her, everything seemed clearer, better when he was around. She didn't know what she would do if he weren't in her life. Probably fall apart or something. She heard him ask the barman for a coke before his attention was placed back on her again.

Nathan held her close to him as he rested his head on top of hers. He closed his eyes for a brief second and then pulled her away from him and looked into her brown eyes which were glistening with her tears. "Just ignore Brooke Hales, she doesn't know what she's talking about." He said softly.

Haley bit down on her bottom lip and looked away from him, blinking away her tears. "I think she does." She said quietly, remorsefully even. She hated being this way. And she really was trying; she honestly did feel ready to move on from Chase. It just didn't seem that she was trying hard enough though; either that or she was looking for something, someone who didn't exist. And that whole letting someone in thing was something that she desperately needed to work on too. She knew exactly what she was looking for, she had the perfect man fully dreamed up in her head, she just didn't know where the hell to find him.

"Haley, you shouldn't feel pressured into doing anything, you know that right. You can just say no to Brooke." Nathan returned, knowing that as much as this was Brooke's fault, that Haley also needed to learn to stand up for herself.

Haley furrowed her brow thoughtfully. "I know that Nathan, I just, I don't know, I feel like I should be going out on dates, you know, it's been a year now. I shouldn't still be moping around and stuff and I shouldn't let him get to me still. She's only trying to help me, in her own Brooke-like way, I know that. It's just that her taste in men is obviously atrocious." Haley responded and then rolled her eyes playfully, trying to lighten the mood, trying to push those dark thoughts out of her mind completely.

Nathan chuckled with her, knowing exactly what she was up to, knowing that she was burying her feelings, and he decided to play along with her instead of labour the point. He released his grip on her and took a couple of large gulps of the coke that had been placed down in front of him. "Well she is going out with my brother, so I kind of have to agree with you on that one Hales, her taste in men really is atrocious." He threw back at her.

Haley shook her head at him as she giggled softly, grateful that he wasn't sticking to the previous subject. She watched as Nathan took the vodka that was sitting on the bar in front of her and began to pour it into the glass of coke that he had just taken a sip out of. She lowered her eyes to his clothes and smiled when she saw that he had chosen to wear the stripy tie she had chosen this morning instead of the plain one he had wanted to wear. "How did your meeting go?" She asked.

Nathan placed the still half full glass of vodka and the glass of coke back down on the bar and turned to face Haley. "It went really well, I got the account." He answered and smiled at Haley.

"Nathan that's amazing!" Haley said as she flung her arms around his neck and pulled him in close to her, smiling at him as she pulled away, picking up his tie with her hands and running her fingers along the soft silk, before looking up at Nathan. "I think it was the tie that did it." She teased.

"Hey, just so you know I was going to pick this tie out anyway so you had absolutely nothing to do with me landing the account Hales." Nathan returned with wide eyes.

"Oh really?" Haley replied, still teasing him. "I thought you were going to wear the plain navy tie instead?"

"No I wasn't." Nathan said as he removed the tie that he had chosen without any help from Haley from her hands and smoothed it back down.

"You liar!" Haley returned and then shook her head at him. "I'm really pleased for you though Nathan, you really deserve it."

Nathan smiled over at Haley and then picked up both the vodka and the coke glasses off the bar and continued to pour her straight vodka into his glass of coke. "Why don't I see if I can get us tickets to Phantom of the Opera tomorrow night, you know, to celebrate?" He asked as he concentrated on making sure that the drink didn't overflow.

"You don't have to do that Nathan." Haley returned as she stared at her vodka which was now being mixed in with the coke, knowing that he was only offering the tickets as a way of cheering her up, which of course, she was thoroughly grateful for.

"I know, but I want to." Nathan said as he passed Haley's drink back to her.

Haley raised her eyebrow at him and watched as he shrugged his shoulders at her innocently before she took her vodka, now drowned in coke, from his hands.

"I don't want to have to carry your drunken ass all the way home." Nathan said cheekily as he watched Haley take a sip of the vodka and coke before she placed it back down on the bar in front of her. He watched her for a few moments as her fingers ran up and down the glass, mopping up the condensation that had gathered on the glass. "Hales." He said softly and waited for her to turn around to look at him before he continued. "Don't ever settle for anything less than what you think you deserve, okay? Don't ever lower your standards, for anyone."

Haley looked into his blue eyes and nodded her head at him, smiling slightly at him as she did so, seeing him smile back at her in return knowingly. She had no idea how he always managed to know what she was thinking about but somehow, he did and of course, he always knew the right things to say to her too.

"Haley, can I talk to you for a second?" Brooke interrupted as she shuffled from one foot to the other.

Nathan glanced quickly at Haley, making sure that she was okay with him leaving her alone with Brooke, and he saw no trepidation coming from her so he picked up his champagne glass. "I'll give you two a minute." He said as he stood up and then walked back over to the table that Lucas, Peyton and Jake were seated at, leaving the girls alone to sort out their earlier disagreement.

Haley bit down on her lip as she took another sip of her vodka and coke, before placing the glass back down on the bar. She continued to play with the glass, running her finger around the rim repeatedly, as she heard Brooke sit down in the seat that Nathan had just vacated.

"Haley I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have said those things to you, it was inconsiderate and thoughtless of me to do so." Brooke said quietly.

"Its fine, Brooke." Haley returned as she continued to play with her glass, moving her fingers down as she got a grip on it and took another sip.

"No Haley, it's not fine." Brooke sighed. "I know I can be a little bit pushy sometimes but it's only because I want to see you happy."

Haley placed her glass back down on the bar and turned in her seat to face Brooke. "I know that. It's just; I think it's fair to say that we most certainly do not share the same taste in men."

Brooke looked up at Haley and grinned sheepishly at her. "I honestly really thought you'd like Damien."

Haley giggled. "Brooke, if I'm being totally honest with you, I don't think you have a clue about what I do and don't like in a man. In case you hadn't you noticed, nothing has ever progressed to anything more than a first date with anyone that you've ever set me up with!" She said light heartedly.

"They only get to the end of the date with you if they're lucky!" Brooke threw back as she erupted in a fit of giggles and slapped Haley on the arm playfully with her hand. "Did you really delete your number from Damien's phone?"

"Uh huh." Haley nodded her head in confirmation and laughed right along with Brooke. "You should have seen his face, it really was quite funny."

"God I can just imagine!" Brooke chuckled along with Haley, picturing it in her head.

"But can we please agree on this Brooke, for the sake of our friendship, and your life, no more blind dates." Haley pleaded with Brooke.

Brooke rolled her eyes at Haley. "Fine, no more blind dates." She returned before growing serious again. "I did mean what I said though Haley, you need to let someone in sometime."

"I know I do Brooke. I wish it were that easy." Haley returned with a small smile. She honestly didn't know if she even knew how to let anybody in, the walls she had built around her heart seemed to be cemented together so tightly, she wasn't sure if she would be able to lower them for anybody any time soon.

"Well maybe if you had a bit of fun first, it might make it a bit easier." Brooke said, offering Haley one of her suggestions before remembering something and gasping. "Do you still have that list I made you write at the beginning of last year?" She asked, her eyes shining with excitement.

Haley groaned as her head fell in her hands, knowing exactly which list Brooke was referring too. She still couldn't believe that she had written that damn thing. "God, I haven't looked at that thing since you forced me to write it!" She said as she shook her head at the memory, wishing that she could just erase it from her mind completely.

"Why not?" Brooke gasped before rolling her eyes at Haley. "There's nothing wrong with having a few fantasies Haley, a wish list of sorts. Have you managed to tick anything off it since you wrote it?" She asked excitedly.

Haley rolled her eyes and then settled her gaze on Brooke. "No Brooke, I haven't. I can't even remember what I wrote on the damn thing."

"So how do you know if you've managed to tick anything off it or not if you don't even remember what you wrote down?" Brooke asked, the confusion written across her face.

Haley shook her head at Brooke before gulping down the rest of her vodka and coke. "Because I do." She said as she slammed the glass back down on the bar.

"Oh!" Brooke returned, understanding what Haley had meant now. "Well why don't you try and tick some of it off now then?"

"Because I don't want to Brooke." Haley returned as she stood up from the bar, needing to end this conversation before Brooke got any more bright ideas; she'd had more than enough of them to last a lifetime. "Come on, we'd better get back to the table."

~*~

Four hours later, Haley found herself and Nathan meandering down the street heading towards their apartment. She could barely walk straight, and as much as she knew that it was from the alcohol she had consumed that evening, she also knew that her shoes weren't helping the situation either. "Nathan…" She whined as she stopped walking, unable to go any further.

Nathan continued walking down the street and then turned around to find Haley standing with her shoulders hunched forward. He shook his head at her and chuckled before continuing to walk down the street. "Come on Hales." He called out to the night sky, not bothering to turn around and look at her again; she'd follow when she was ready.

"Nathan…" Haley whined again as she watched him walk further away from her. God these shoes were fucking killing her feet and they weren't even a quarter of the way home yet. There was no way she was going to make it all the way home without dying, she was sure of it.

Nathan sighed as he stopped in his tracks and turned around again, finding Haley still rooted to exactly the same spot that she had been in thirty seconds ago. "Come on Hales, we're never going to get home if you keep stopping." Nathan called down the street to her.

"I can't." Haley shouted back at him as she lifted herself onto the balls of her feet, trying to ease the aching feeling she could feel burning through her feet.

"Can't what?" Nathan yelled back at her.

"Walk." Haley yelled back in frustration. Couldn't he see how much pain she was in?

Nathan burst out laughing at her. "What do you mean you can't walk? Of course you can walk Hales, but you just need to actually put one foot in front of the other, instead of standing with them super glued together on the ground, and then you might find that you actually get somewhere." He shouted back to her.

"But I can't. The shoes." She cried out as she pointed down at the offending shoes and almost started to cry at how much they were hurting her feet. She knew that she should have worn her flats tonight, though to be fair, she had gone out on the date with the intention of it lasting longer than five minutes, in which case she would have got a cab home instead of having to walk.

Nathan rolled his eyes, knowing that he needed to concede because she really would just stand there all night if he didn't do something, and he wasn't going to risk her getting hurt by some madman that was stalking the streets of the city in the early hours of the morning, so he walked back over to her. He stopped just in front of her and then turned around so his back was facing her and bent his knees, motioning with his hands for her to jump on.

Haley grinned like a child as she jumped on his back, wrapping her arms and legs around his body as she felt him get a grip on her legs. "Thank you Nathan." She said sweetly as she felt him straighten up and begin to walk, her legs dangling to the side of his body.

"When we get home, you're throwing the damn shoes away Haley." He huffed at her as he turned the corner and continued the walk towards their apartment. "I have no idea why you wear them when you know that you can't walk in them, it's stupid."

"Shut up Nathan." Haley responded. "You were the one that insisted we walk instead of take and cab. I am not throwing them away and the reason why I wear them is because they look good." She continued as she pointed one of her heel clad feet in front of both her and Nathan so that they could admire them together. "See. And besides, they cost far too much money for me to not wear them."

"How much did they cost?" Nathan asked as he felt Haley grip onto his head and force it downwards so that he could look at her shoes. They were black and high. She had a thousand pairs that all looked exactly the same.

"Just over five hundred dollars." Haley replied in a soft, dreamy voice as she twisted her foot so that she could admire the shoes from a slightly different angle.

Nathan stopped walking completely, finding that he was in shock. "You what?" He bellowed, wondering if he had heard her right.

"What?" Haley asked, his abrupt halting had caused her to snap out of her shoe daydream and she wondered why they had stopped moving.

"You spent five hundred dollars on a pair of shoes?" Nathan asked incredulously, sure that he couldn't have heard her right, as that was an insane amount of money for Haley to spend, hell, it was an insane amount of money for him to spend on shoes. He knew that she had a shoe fetish but still, five hundred dollars?

"Uh huh. And they were worth every single cent. So pretty." Haley said wistfully as she pointed both of her feet in front of her and smiled down at her shoes.

Nathan shook his head at her, trying to wrap his head around this crazy revelation. "Wait a second. You wasted five hundred of your dollars on shoes that you cannot even walk in?"

"I didn't waste any dollars on anything, but technically, you did." Haley responded and smiled as she knew that this would really wind him up.

"What do you mean I did? There's no way I would ever spend five hundred dollars on shoes for you Haley, not when you have at least four pairs that look exactly the same and probably cost less together than that pair you have on right now." Nathan responded, wondering where the hell she was going with this. Had she stolen money from him? Had she paid for the shoes on the emergency credit card he had given her and had he just paid it off without even realising it? Her card was on a direct debit to clear each month anyway so that was a high possibility, not that she had ever told him that she had used it, in fact, she had flat out refused to carry it around with her until he had persuaded her that it really was a good idea and that it would put his mind at ease, so that if she ever got stranded in Chicago, or wherever, again, she'd have a way of actually getting home herself instead of having to borrow someone's phone to call him to ask him to pay for a ticket. To which she mumbled something he didn't catch and then she placed it in her purse, and he had smiled smugly at her and then returned to his Playstation 3.

"I exchanged the food mixer you brought me for my birthday and got these instead." Haley said and then bit down on her lip, unable to hold back the giggle that escaped from her mouth.

"You exchanged my gift?" Nathan said as he tried to wrap his head around this new development.

"Nathan, why would you even buy me a food mixer in the first place?" Haley asked incredulously.

"You always wanted one." Nathan returned defensively. He'd thought it had been a really nice gift; she was forever banging on about wanting to make cakes and shit with it every single time they walked past one when she had dragged him out shopping with her.

"Yeah, I did but not as a birthday present. No one wants a food mixer for their twenty fifth birthday present Nathan." Haley replied.

Nathan shook his head disbelievingly. "You are unbelievable Haley James." He said, rather hurt that she had exchanged his present without telling him.

"Well wouldn't you rather me have a present that I can enjoy?" Haley returned.

"Of course Haley, but…" Nathan started to talk but was interrupted by Haley.

"Well then what's the problem?" Haley asked as she pushed her feet into his legs in an effort to get him walking again, only she then felt him loosen his grip on her legs and she slid off him slowly. She unwrapped her hands from around his neck, and her feet hit the floor and she winced in pain. She then looked up and saw that Nathan had started walking again, without her. "Nathan?" She called out to him. "What are you doing?"

"Letting you enjoy the present I so kindly gave to you." Nathan shouted out as he continued walking down the street.

"But Nathan, they hurt!" Haley cried back at him.

"But I thought you enjoyed them?" Nathan said as he turned around to face her and shrugged his shoulders at her.

"I do but… please don't make me walk home Nathan." Haley sighed in defeat.

"Why didn't you tell me that you exchanged the food mixer?" Nathan asked as he stood further down the street from where he had dropped her.

"Because I knew you'd never let me get the shoes." Haley returned.

"Damn right I wouldn't Haley. Five hundred dollars is a ridiculous amount of money to spend on shoes." Nathan said, still rather miffed that she hadn't told him about the whole gift exchange.

"Nathan, come on, I really, really like them, and I like them that little bit more knowing that you kind of, sort of, got them for me." Haley returned sweetly, hoping that her smile would somehow encourage Nathan to come back over to her and continue giving her a piggyback ride home.

"But Hales, we're not supposed to have any secrets from each other. If you didn't want the food mixer then you should have told me and we could have exchanged it together." Nathan returned. He knew he was labouring the point but still, he'd put a lot of thought into that present.

"But then I wouldn't have been able to get the pretty shoes, would I? And I promise, that's the only thing I've ever kept from you." Haley returned, hoping that now he thought that she had bared her soul to him that he would give up on his mild tantrum. "Please Nathan can you come back over her so I don't have to walk. I can already feel the blisters forming on my feet and I will fall to a heap on the floor if I have to move them another centimetre." She whined and stuck out her bottom lip.

Nathan took a deep breath and sighed in both defeat and at her dramatics. He walked back over to her, unable to resist her whiny voice and plus he really didn't want her feet to be covered in blisters. He turned around and she hopped on his back and he continued to walk them both home. They were silent for a couple of blocks, the mild night breeze blowing up the empty streets they were walking down. "You're throwing them away when we get home Hales." He said.

"Am not." Haley replied.

"You are." Nathan responded with a hint of a smile on his face.

"I'm not." Haley sing songed childishly and they both erupted in a fit of giggles at each other's stubbornness.

They continued to walk in silence along the street, Nathan hoisting her up higher on his back when he felt her slipping and increasing his grip on her legs to make sure that he didn't drop her. She was swinging her legs in front of him alternately, and he was sure it was a way of her not so subtly rubbing her shoes in his nose and he sighed softly at her behaviour. "So Brooke apologised then?" He asked. He hadn't had a chance to talk to her since she and Brooke returned to the table as they had been whispering away in the corner about God knows what the whole evening.

"Yeah." Haley replied as she continued to swing her legs to the same rhythm that Nathan was walking them both in.

"What were you two whispering about when you came back to the table then?" Nathan asked, curiosity getting the better of him.

"Oh, nothing in particular." Haley responded casually.

They descended into more comfortable silence as they walked along the sidewalk nearing their home. Nathan looked down at the pavement as he rounded the corner onto the street which housed their apartment building and felt Haley lean her head on his shoulder, her arms hooking underneath his and resting on the top of his arms.

Haley frowned as she thought some more about what Brooke and her had been talking about that evening. "Nathan, you know how I need to move on?" She asked as her chin bobbed up and down on his shoulder.

"Mmmm?" Nathan asked as he walked alongside their apartment building, and halted when he got to the front door.

Haley felt him stop and let go off her legs in an invitation for her to lower herself back to the ground, but she hugged onto his body tightly. "I think you need to do the same." She whispered before letting go of him and walking inside their building, calling the elevator to the ground floor and slipping off her shoes, cradling them like she would a newborn.

~*~

As soon as Haley walked into the apartment, she wandered straight to her room, knowing that her words would have caused Nathan to stop and think. She knew that he needed his space; as much as she wanted to talk to him about it all she knew that he wouldn't want to and so she was going to give him the space he desired as she desperately wanted him to sort through the troubles that had been plaguing him for years now. She closed the door to her bedroom and flipped the light on, and in her drunken stupor, an idea came to her. She was going to find that damn list that Brooke had made her write. With a determined glint in her eye, she walked over to her wardrobe and placed her shoes carefully on the top shelf and then she sat down beside her bookshelf, beginning to turn her room upside down. She couldn't for the life of her remember where she had put that notebook, it literally could be anywhere, in fact it was probably hidden away incredibly well somewhere so that Nathan could never possibly find it.

Nathan watched as Haley walked into her bedroom and he was grateful for the space that she was providing him with. He had been hiding the guilt for years, and Haley hadn't mentioned it to him for a good nine months now, and he had thought he had got away with it, only he should have known better. He'd been putting on this front for so long now that it was almost second nature to him, and he had even started to believe that he was okay, even though deep down he knew that he was just kidding himself, and it seemed that he wasn't fooling Haley in the slightest. With a heavy sigh he wandered into the bathroom, flicked on the light and then switched the shower on. He placed all his clothes in the hamper and stepped under the warm spray, rubbed the shower gel into himself and then watched as the soap suds dripped away from his body, wishing that his pain could be so easily wiped from inside of him. He knew he needed to deal with it but he couldn't bring himself to. Not yet.

He stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around his waist. He then wandered over to the sink and cleared the condensation from the mirror, staring at himself. He looked away and sighed at his reflection as he turned around and grabbed the hamper of dirty clothes given that it was nearly full and as he turned he caught sight of the tattoo on his shoulder and stopped to stare at it for a while, allowing himself to remember.

He didn't know how much time he spent standing in the bathroom but he eventually snapped back to reality. He placed the hamper by the utility room as a reminder that either he or Haley needed to put a wash on tomorrow and then walked along the corridor to his bedroom, pausing at Haley's door as he heard her rustling and throwing things around her room. He frowned, thinking about going in and seeing if she was okay but then he heard her shout out 'ah ha' and then there was nothing but silence coming from her room. She was a strange being, that Haley James. He shook his head and continued down the corridor to his room, before flopping into bed, grateful that he had drunk so much tonight so that he wouldn't have to dwell on his thoughts too much before falling asleep.

~*~

Nathan sat on the sofa in the living room with his phone held to his ear, calling Haley's mobile as he looked down at his watch but she wasn't picking up. It rang through to her voicemail, some cheesy message that she'd had on it since being at college and he heard the beep indicating that he could start talking. "Haley it's me, I don't know how many times I've told you this, but you really need to change that message of yours because it sounds so silly. Anyway, where the hell are you, we're supposed to be leaving for the theatre right now and you're still not here." He said and then looked down at his phone when it beeped in his ear and he saw that she was calling him. "Never mind, you're calling me now." He said and then disconnected the call he was making to her phone and picked up the incoming one. "Hey gorgeous! Where the hell are you?"

"I know, I'm so sorry I'm late Nathan, I'm just coming round the corner now. Can you go into my room and grab my nice handbag and then I'll just chuck all my stuff in it from this one and then I'll be good to go?" Haley asked pleadingly as she opened the door to the apartment building. She was more than a little flustered in her haste to get home. She loved Phantom of the Opera, it was her favourite musical of all time and she would be more than a little pissed off with herself if they missed the beginning of the show, it didn't matter that she had seen it a hundred times before.

"Sure, I'll see you in a sec okay?" Nathan said as he got up from the sofa and hung up his phone. He walked along the corridor and opened Haley's bedroom door, seeing all of her worldly possessions sprayed randomly on the floor. It literally looked like a bomb had gone off in her room. He shook his head, wondering what in the world had possessed her to do this and stepped carefully over the mess to the wardrobe. He pulled out the ridiculously expensive bag he had bought for her at Christmas from the top shelf, which was the only thing left in there, well the handbag and the pair of five hundred dollar shoes that he had apparently brought for her too. He sighed as he turned around and began to walk through her bedroom again, when he noticed a pad of paper on her bed and the word 'sex' was written in her handwriting, underlined about five times at the top of the page. He squinted at the pad of paper, wondering if he had read it right, before realising that there was no mistaking what was written on the notepad. He tried to look away from the pad of paper, he really shouldn't be that nosy, it was none of his business really, was it, but he couldn't help the fact that his eyes were drawn to it. What the hell was Haley writing the word sex down on a pad of paper for?

He placed her bag on the bed and picked up the pad of paper, his eyes nearly bulging out of their sockets when he read the top of the page. 'Haley's Sex List'. He should have put it back down, right in the exact position where he had found it, he shouldn't still be holding it, and his eyes certainly shouldn't be reading it, but that's exactly what they were doing. He grinned wildly as he started to read this list of hers, frowning at some of the stuff that was written there also, but his brain was too shocked to register his true emotions at reading her list. He raised his eyebrow as he read another line, she was a kinky little thing, he'd give her that. He couldn't believe that she had written a fantasy list, or was it a 'to do' list? He didn't have a fucking clue, and he didn't really care what the fuck it was either. This shit was gold as far as he was concerned.

Haley burst through the door and called out Nathan's name. She heard him reply and it sounded like he was in the kitchen, so she ran inside the room, her eyes darting around as she tried to find her bag, but it was nowhere to be seen. "Nathan, come on, where's my bag, we're going to be late if we don't leave now." She rushed out as she started to turn around, presuming that he hadn't even gone into her room to get the bag out of her wardrobe in the first place.

"Oh no Hales, don't you even think about walking out of this room." Nathan returned in a husky voice as he lifted himself up off the chair and rested his hands on the table in front of him.

Haley froze at the tone of his voice, wondering why he was using it with her and then turned around to look at him and saw that he was smirking at her. She grew incredibly confused as she wondered what the hell he was looking so smug about. Her eyes started to roam the room, trying to find a clue, and quickly at that because they really were going to miss the start of the show now and she was quickly getting more and more irritated with the fact that they were still in the apartment and not halfway out of the building by now, and then she saw it. The damn notepad. Her brain was suddenly flooded with questions, the most important one being how the fuck had he managed to find it? She could feel herself turning the deepest shade of red possible and wanted nothing more than the ground to open up and swallow her whole.

"Care to explain?" Nathan asked with a raised eyebrow.

**AN – Okay, so there you have the first chapter and once again, as with all my stories, I am quite nervous about posting this fic… but also very excited about what I have planned for these two.**

**I'd love to hear what you thought of the first chapter, so please leave me a review and let me know your thoughts.**

**As with my other stories, I will be offering you all a preview of the next chapter if you want it, so just let me know in a review if you do want it and I shall get it out to you as soon as it is written. Thanks! **

**Oh and I will probably be posting some pics that accompany this story on my blog (www (dot) ilovenaley (dot) blogspot (dot) com) so go and check it out!**


	2. Chapter 2

**AN – Alright, first things first, thank you all so much for the really encouraging reviews you guys left for the first chapter of this story. I'm really overwhelmed at the response the first chapter received and honestly want to thank you all so much for taking the time to leave the reviews, you have no idea how much of a smile they put on my face and I know I've said this before but I really do wish I could sit around all day and write so you guys wouldn't have to wait so long between the updates, but unfortunately real life, a full-time job and occasional spot of wedding planning take up most of my time!**

**I sent out the sneak peek to those of you that asked for it and as always just some words to those of you without accounts (that didn't ask for a sneak peek and leave an e-mail address) so I couldn't respond personally, and please do keep leaving the comments guys, they really do motivate me like you wouldn't believe. **IOU – **I'm so pleased you like the beginning of the story. Ha ha, you'll get to see some of what is on the list in this chapter, and the rest of it will be revealed in time and I'm glad that you are excited for the Naley smut! **Keeta – **Thank you so much for leaving the lovely review and I am so pleased you enjoyed the first chapter, I hope you like this one too! **Janine –** I am so pleased that you enjoyed the first chapter. Both Nathan and Haley's pasts will all be revealed in time, so I hope you enjoy the story! **Judy – **Thank you for leaving such a lovely comment, I'm so pleased you are enjoying my stories and I hope you like the update. **

**I know a lot of you had some questions from reading that first chapter, which I completely understand, but all the loose ties should all fit together at some point. I'll answer what I can in responses to reviews but I don't want to give too much of the story away, especially if the answer will be revealed in the story at a later point.**

**Okay, so with that said, I just need to say a big thank you to Rebecca, Kristen and Kelly for reading through this chapter for me, you girls are awesome! **

**Hope you all enjoy the update!**

**Chapter Two**

Haley didn't say a word back to him but inside her head she was shouting every single expletive there was under the sun at Nathan. Her heart was beating so frantically in her chest she was sure that it was going to explode at any given second and she was also one hundred percent positive that the colour residing on her cheeks was about as red as red could get, she could actually feel her cheeks burning. She looked away from Nathan's smug grin and she still hadn't managed to answer the question she'd been asking herself ever since she had laid eyes on that notepad all of two minutes ago. How the hell had he found it? She furrowed her brow as she looked in deep concentration at the oven to the left of Nathan before gasping in absolute horror. She'd left it lying on her bed, open for the whole fucking world to see if they wanted to. She closed her eyes briefly as she reprimanded herself for not having the sense to put it away in a drawer or something at least before she had left the apartment earlier. Now she couldn't even be mad at him for going through her stuff which just sucked because that was the one thing she had been counting on being able to do, as a way of distracting him from asking questions about the damn thing.

"Well?" Nathan pressed as he watched Haley look at everything in the room except him and the notepad. He, on the other hand, couldn't keep his eyes off the thing. He kept sneaking glances down at it, rereading the items listed there, and in all honesty, he still couldn't believe that it was her handwriting he was looking at on the page. He could see how embarrassed she was about it, her cheeks were literally redder than the ripest tomato, but she shouldn't have written this list in the first place if she wasn't prepared for someone to find it, leaving it lying on your bed is just an invitation for someone to read it, isn't it? There was no way he was going to let her duck out of explaining this to him either, especially item one on the list, which had piqued his curiosity immensely because it had to be a mistake or something, surely?

Haley bit down on her lip, wondering how the hell she was going to be able to get away with telling him absolutely nothing, which in all reality, given that she had absolutely nothing to distract him with at all, she knew was impossible. She snuck another glance over at him, and she could tell instantly from the look on his face that he was not going to let this one lie without her telling him the truth. But even so, she was going to damn well try and get away with it. She turned around and began to walk out of the kitchen again. "Come on Nathan, we're already late and if you make me miss hearing 'Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again' you won't be alive tomorrow." She threw over her shoulder nonchalantly as she walked through the door, pretending like the last five minutes had never happened, which is what she wished desperately.

Nathan's smirk grew even wider and he cleared his throat loudly so that she could hear him. If she honestly thought they were going to watch Phantom of the Opera this afternoon then she was sadly mistaken, unless of course she was going to offer up an explanation for this list extremely quickly because otherwise they weren't going to make it to the theatre on time. "Number thirteen, 'have sex in a public place'." He called out to her retreating form, reading from her list of whatever the hell it was, almost bursting into a fit of giggles when he saw her stop walking towards the front door and tense up. He glanced back down at the list, not really needing to read it again because he had in all honesty committed the whole of it to his memory now but still, the dramatic pause was necessary, it would only wind her up that little bit more. "Number seventeen, 'have phone sex'."

Haley ground her teeth and clenched her fists together so hard she was sure her nails were piercing into her skin as she turned around to face Nathan, who was looking at her like the cat that got the cream. She wanted nothing more than to wipe that damn smirk of his face, but she had no ammunition to use against him at all. Except for the fact that she was going to suffocate him with her bare hands if he didn't shut the fuck up right this instant. "Nathan." She said in a low, warning voice, hoping that he would take the hint and zip his mouth firmly shut, hand the notepad over to her and never mention it again. She was, of course, well aware that this wouldn't happen even in her wildest dreams but she could still hope for some compassion and understanding from him, especially as she was literally about to combust with embarrassment.

Nathan smiled evilly before continuing, as she hadn't offered him so much as a word which related to the list he had on the table in front of him and there was no way he was going to back down from this one, he was far too intrigued to let it lie, and rightly so he thought, it wasn't every day that you stumbled across a sex list relating to your best friend. "Number twenty-two..." He started again.

Haley had heard enough, she knew that if she didn't do something soon he would spend the whole of the next hour just reciting that damn list to her and she really didn't want to hear those words, words that she had written, coming from his mouth at all. She literally pounced back into the kitchen and ran for the table, her eyes never leaving the notebook, only Nathan's reflexes were much too quick for her and before she knew what was happening, the notebook was flung up over his head and out of her reach as he stepped away from the table. She huffed in agitation at the fact that she wasn't fast enough and leaned her hands on the table that was currently separating them as she glared at him furiously. "Nathan, give that notepad back to me right now." She said in a stern voice, her breathing deep and flustered as she looked pleadingly into his eyes.

"Not a chance in hell Hales, not at least until you offer up some sort of explanation." Nathan bargained with her. He raised his eyebrow at her, hoping for her own sake that she would accept this deal of his, but he watched as she took an incredibly deep breath and then jumped onto the kitchen table that was separating them. So this was how she was going to play it then? That was fine by him. He shook his head at her; she was only making this worse for herself anyway. Now not only would the notebook remain with him, but she was most certainly going to miss out on hearing 'Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again', given that she wasn't cooperating with him at all.

Haley marched over the table quickly towards Nathan, nothing but the notebook in her sights. She was absolutely mortified that he had not only found it, but also at the fact that he had read it too. She knew that she wouldn't hear the end of this now for the rest of her life. She could picture it in her head, she was laying on her death bed and Nathan was sitting next to her, his zimmer frame placed in front of him as he said in a shaky old voice 'do you remember that list of fantasies you wrote all those years ago?'. She shook the image from her head and took another step towards Nathan, who had retreated further back into the kitchen, that arrogant glint of his sparkling in his blue eyes. She could tell that he was bursting to tease her some more and so she judged the distance that was present between where she stood on the table and where Nathan stood leaning back against the counter, incensed that it was too far for her to jump and grab the notebook out of his hands. So instead, she placed her hands on her hips, glared at him harshly and just dared him to say one more word about it to her.

Nathan quickly roamed his eyes over her body. God she was pissed as hell. He wouldn't be surprised if she had bruises where her hands were currently digging into her hips so tightly. But he really couldn't resist the teasing and he'd stop as soon as she explained it to him, but it seemed she wasn't going to open her mouth anytime soon, so unfortunately for Haley, the teasing had to continue. He surveyed the current situation, he was effectively trapped at the back of the kitchen and needed to get past Haley so that he could retreated to safety, with the notebook of course, somewhere else in the apartment. But that meant running past Haley and the kitchen table. He needed to keep the notebook safely out of reach from her and then he'd be able to run to his room, or the bathroom, or somewhere where she couldn't get it. He raised his eyebrow at her again, and then decided to make a run for it, knowing that he would be quicker than her anyway so getting past her shouldn't be a problem.

Haley watched Nathan dash past her and knew that she needed to react quickly. He was moving past her and she panicked as she really wanted to get her notebook out of his grasp, so that she could burn it and then deny remembering that it had ever existed. She didn't know what the hell to do, he was clutching the damn thing so close to his chest she knew that she wouldn't be able to pry it out of his hands, but she wanted it back in her possession. It was hers after all.

Nathan was by now just about clear of the table, and thinking that he was safe, he decided to start the teasing again. "You know Hales; you only had to ask me if you wanted to do number twenty-eight, I'd be more than willing to help you out on that one." He said cheekily before letting out a low groan when he felt her jump onto his back suddenly. "God Haley what the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Nathan Scott give me that notebook right now or I will dig my nails into your arm so damn hard..." Haley started as she hung onto Nathan's back and wrapped her legs around him, scowling at that fact that he was holding the notebook with his arms stretched far out in front of him so that she couldn't reach it. She hovered her nails above his arm in a threatening position. She meant what she was saying; the nails would start scratching soon if he wasn't careful.

"Do it Hales, I'm not giving you this notebook back until you at least give me an explanation." Nathan goaded as he walked through the apartment with Haley latched onto his back and entered the lounge, swinging wildly as he did so, trying to get Haley off his back but she was hanging on so tightly he knew that he wouldn't be able to get her off him without threatening the safety of the notebook.

Haley breathed in deeply, trying to control both her rage and her embarrassment as she clung tightly onto his body. "I mean it Nathan; I will dig my nails into your arm if you don't hand it over. I'll give you five seconds." Haley warned.

Nathan chuckled just loud enough for her to hear, her nails didn't scare him, he'd deal with the pain because he was absolutely desperate to find out what the hell she had written this list for and so he muttered under his breath. "Whatever. I'd like to see you try and get it." If she honestly thought that he was going to give up so easily then she was sadly mistaken.

Haley didn't think she was supposed to hear his mutterings but she did and this rush of anger washed over her entire body. Why couldn't he just let it go and give the damn thing to her? She grabbed onto his arm with both her hands, not bothering to wait the five seconds she had offered, and clawed her way along it, desperately trying to rein in the notebook that was seemingly tucked away safely in his hand but he was far too strong for her and his hand hadn't even moved an inch from where it was outstretched in front of him despite the fact that she was using all of her brute force, which it turned out wasn't anywhere near enough of a match to the strength of Nathan. "Damn it Nathan, just give it to me!" She shouted in frustration.

"Jesus Christ Haley, mind the ear!" Nathan shouted back as he flinched away from her as best he could, feeling the need to rub his ear for it was ringing now given that she had just shouted right inside of it, but only he couldn't because that would mean that the notebook would be within Haley's grasp, so instead he shook his head quickly, trying to stop the buzzing noise.

"Well just give me it and then I won't need to be shouting in your ear, will I?" Haley returned as she continued to grab onto his arm, which still wasn't moving at all. She could feel all of the muscles in his arm tensing and eventually she gave up, huffing in frustration as she realised that he really wasn't going to give it to her. She slipped down off his body and then sulked her way into the kitchen, pissed not only because he had the notebook, but also at the fact that they were now going to miss out on seeing Phantom of the Opera for sure.

Nathan turned around and watched her walk into the kitchen. He supposed that he should feel bad, teasing her like this, and he could tell from her attitude just how embarrassed she was about it but all he wanted was an explanation. They were best friends, so why couldn't she just tell him why she had written these things down in the first place, that really was all that he wanted to know, and it was pretty reasonable for him to want to know, wasn't it? It wasn't like having sexual fantasies was a crime or anything, nor was it anything to be embarrassed about, if that's what this list was anyway.

He heard her banging away in the cupboards and guessed that she was going to start baking, which is what she did when she was feeling anxious or pissed off; it was something that tended to calm her down. He grinned to himself, glad that he still had the notebook and wondered what the hell he could do with himself now. He didn't want to press Haley any further just yet; she needed some time to cool off. He looked around the living room, and supposed that he could play Gran Turismo on the Playstation for a bit, but then he turned around and spotted the moonwalker that Haley had bought ages ago and decided to give it a go instead, given that he hadn't had much of a chance to get down to the gym in the past couple of weeks as he'd been working late trying to impress his bosses at work. He walked to his bedroom and pulled on a pair of shorts and a sleeveless t-shirt, of course bringing the notebook with him and then walked back into the lounge. He plugged the machine in and placed the notebook on the shelf hovering just above the handlebars and started peddling, entering in all his details onto the thing before selecting a program and upping the resistance.

Haley spent the next ten minutes trying to decide what to bake. She was so worked up and angry at him for teasing her like he was, it just wasn't fair. So she had a few fantasies, did it really matter? Was it really that much of a shock to him that he had to demand an explanation from her? God, all she wanted was for him to drop it and let it go but she knew that wouldn't happen in a million years. She couldn't think straight and so she marched over to the shelf in the kitchen and pulled out one of her cookbooks and sat down at the table as she flicked angrily through the pages, trying to decide on something that would keep her mind suitably occupied while she came up with a game plan, a way of getting that notebook back.

She looked at all the yummy pictures of the cakes as she turned the pages of the cookbook, before she came to Nathan's favourite type of cupcake. She grinned evilly, immediately deciding that they were exactly what she would make, and consequently not offer Nathan any of them, given how much of an ass he was being, she thought it was only fair. She then spent the next fifteen minutes rooting around in the cupboards as she tried to find all the ingredients she would need, and then pulled out her mixing bowl and her wooden spoon as she placed the butter and the sugar in the bowl and began to cream them together.

Nathan had, by now completed twenty minutes on the moonwalker machine, and he also knew that twenty minutes was by far more than enough time for Haley to have decided what she was going to bake, and to say that he was a little intrigued would be an understatement of epic proportions. He was practically drooling all over the machine as he thought about all of the wonderful concoctions she could be making in the next room. Maybe she was making that chocolate fudge cake, given that it was her favourite, or maybe she was baking some cookies. He almost groaned out loud when the next thought flashed through his mind. If she was making cupcakes, he knew that he wouldn't be able to resist eating at least half of the batch she made by the end of the evening. Haley's cupcakes were heavenly, quite honestly the best he had ever tasted in his whole life, and to say he had tried a few would be a severe underestimation of just how many he had eaten in his twenty-five years of existence. If there was one thing that Nathan Scott loved in the world more than anything else, it was cupcakes. He would literally do anything for one.

He continued to move his arms and legs furiously on the machine, hoping that if he moved a little faster, the half an hour he had set the machine to do would finish quicker and he could then go and spy on Haley and see if his wishes of cupcakes were coming true. He closed his eyes and could practically taste one of them; the softness of the frosting and the light sponge of the cake. They really were so fucking good.

He looked down at the machine and saw that twenty-six minutes had passed. Just another four to go and then he could go and see what she was doing. He looked straight ahead of him and continued to push on the machine and after what had to be four minutes, he looked down at the machine, sure that it had broken or something when he found that only thirty seconds had passed since he had last looked at the timer. He whined as he watched the clock move at what had to be extreme slow motion, before it hit twenty-seven. Three minutes. He could wait three minutes, three minutes was nothing. He took a deep breath and continued, repeating the fact that in three minutes he could go and see Haley in his head, only to then give up completely. He pushed the stop button on the machine and jumped off it, grabbing the notebook and then he practically ran into the kitchen. He had to know if she was making the cupcakes.

Haley was beating the butter and the sugar, and had been doing so for the last five minutes, but it just didn't seem to want to cream at all. She lifted the mixing bowl up off the counter and held it tightly to her chest as she continued mixing, putting extra force into her actions this time. The damn thing would cream if she had to stand here all fucking night and wait for it. She knew that she should have given the butter some more time to soften but she was so aggravated and she needed to do something to calm herself down and she couldn't wait the half an hour that would have made this job much easier. Not that she was calm right about now anyway, because the sugar and the butter were not cooperating with her at all.

Nathan slowed his pace as he walked towards the kitchen and stopped in the doorway. Haley had her back to him and he could tell from looking at her that she was mixing something with probably a little too much force than was necessary, which meant that she was still pissed. He knew that he should leave her be, but he was too interested in the damn cupcakes to leave without knowing what she was making. He looked around at the ingredients she had out on the counter tops but that didn't tell him anything at all, because quite frankly he had no clue what the hell went into a cupcake anyway. He then noticed that there was a recipe book lying open on the table and so he tiptoed into the room and looked down at the book, almost squealing in delight at the fact that the cupcake page was open. He wanted to run over to her and hug her, it had been at least a month since he'd had a cupcake, what with him not being able to go to the gym and all he knew that cakes would not be a good idea if he couldn't work them off his body, he hadn't spent all that time in the gym previously to have it messed up by a weakness for a certain type of heavenly, delicious cake.

He looked over at her, and saw that she was still mixing whatever the hell was in the bowl at an extremely high speed and he resisted the urge to hug her, because that wouldn't go down well when she had a wooden spoon in her hands and was still angry at him. If she hit him with that spoon then some of the mixture would be wasted and he didn't want to miss out on any of the cupcakes. He then looked back down at the picture of the cupcake which was on the page and his mouth began to water at the fact that in just a few minutes he could eat one of them. He wondered just how long he had to wait, and so he glanced at the writing on the page only to be distracted by the chocolate fudge cake that she sometimes made which was on the opposite page. His eyes moved hurriedly between the delicious cupcakes which he had a huge fucking craving for, and the not so delicious chocolate fudge cake which would do absolute nothing to quench his desires, before they moved around the room, taking in the ingredients she had out. Which one was she making? He had to know, and he prayed to God that it was the cupcakes. He cleared his throat and watched as Haley jumped and then turned around to face him.

Haley nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard Nathan clear his throat from behind her. She scowled as she turned around and raised an eyebrow at him whilst still continuing to beat the butter and the sugar together, which was still not creaming in the slightest. He was all sweaty and disgusting and she wondered what the hell he had been doing, but before she had a chance to ask him, he opened his mouth.

"What are you making Hales?" Nathan asked nicely, hoping to dissipate the anger she was feeling towards him by being pleasant to her as he tried to peer into the mixing bowl she had clutched to her chest, only it was angled so he couldn't see what was inside of it. _Please be cupcakes, please be cupcakes. _He chanted to himself as he waited for her answer him as patiently as he could.

"Nothing." Haley returned before turning back around and placing the mixing bowl on the counter top as she continued to try to get the damn butter and sugar to cream. There was no way that she was going to let him know that she was making cupcakes when he still had her damn notebook in his hands. She was going to tempt him into giving the notebook back to her with the smell of them baking in the oven. She knew that he would give in, and if he didn't at that stage, then she could always just eat one of them in front of him, which she knew would aggravate him so much he wouldn't have a choice but to hand the notebook over to her.

Nathan breathed in deeply before continuing, getting rather distressed at the fact that she wasn't just telling him, because if she wasn't making cupcakes then he was going to have to go out and buy himself one, even though it wouldn't be as good as her own, he'd got the taste for them now, and he needed one. But he knew that he needed to remain calm otherwise she would tell him anything, especially given that he had already pissed her off with the whole notebook thing, which he still had in his hands. "Well you're obviously making something Hales." He said, stating the obvious.

"I am." Haley returned, her arms growing incredibly tired from all this mixing but she knew that she needed to keep going. The cupcakes were her only hope of getting the notebook back without her having to explain anything to him.

"Well why did you just say you were making nothing then?" Nathan asked as he traced the outline of the picture of the delicious looking cupcake in the recipe book.

"Because I'm making nothing for you, but something for myself." Haley replied as she stopped mixing for a second and shook her arm a little, trying to relieve the ache that was building, before continuing to mix.

Nathan furrowed his brow. She surely wasn't making cupcakes with the intention of not giving him one. That was just pure evil. But then again, she could also be making the chocolate fudge cake she loved so much, almost as much as he loved cupcakes, but not really, because no one loved anything as much as he loved cupcakes. "Well you're obviously making either chocolate fudge cake or cupcakes, so which one is it Hales?" He asked as he looked over at her back, almost begging her to tell him which it was so that his mind could be put to rest. She knew how much this had to be torturing him, surely she would tell him, she wasn't that mean.

"It's none of your business what I'm making Nathan, because you're not going to be eating any of it." Haley returned as she continued to mix, still not making any headway with the still hard butter. "Damn this fucking butter!" She shouted out as she stopped stirring and ran an extremely tired hand through her hair.

Nathan watched, pleased that she was still pissed off because her mood now matched his own. "I bet you're wishing you didn't trade that food mixer I got you for those ridiculously expensive shoes that you can't walk in right about now aren't you?" He asked her snidely.

Haley clenched her fists together and turned around to face Nathan, spying her notebook in his hands as he turned and stalked out of the kitchen in a mood, leaving her alone to cream the butter and sugar that would not fucking cream at all.

~*~

Nathan sat on the sofa in the living room, the notebook placed in his lap as he played Gran Turismo. He was playing the game as a way of quelling his anger but it wasn't really working. He knew that it was silly to be this upset about some cupcakes, but he really fucking wanted one of them now that he had thought about them. He sniffed as that delicious smell of vanilla and sponge wafted through the lounge and he instantly felt better, a smile slowly spreading across his face. She was making the cupcakes and not the damn chocolate fudge cake. He sat back on the sofa and continued playing, the smile now plastered across his whole face at the thought of those cakes being inside his mouth in the not too distant future, before he jerked upright and hit the pause button, suddenly remembering the fact that Haley had said that she was making something that wasn't for him but was for herself. He realised that she wasn't planning on letting him have even one of those little bites of heaven.

He knew that he needed to do some damage control, and quickly because there was no way in hell that he was going to let her have those cupcakes in the apartment without at least five of them being eaten by him, and so he looked down at his watch, noticing that it was nearly dinner time, and he then ran into the bathroom, took a quick shower and then pulled on a pair of jeans and a grey polo shirt, before sprinting out of the apartment, with the notebook in his hands of course. He wasn't letting that thing out of his sight until he had got what he wanted from Haley.

The timer had just gone off on the oven and Haley pulled out the perfect looking cupcakes. The grin currently on her face was spread as wide as was possible and she placed the cupcakes on the cooling rack right by the door to the kitchen, so that Nathan could smell them. She placed her hand on her hip as she admired her handiwork. They really did look amazing, even if she had made them herself. She glanced through the door, expecting to hear Nathan groan at the delicious smell that was wafting through the apartment, only she heard nothing. She wondered if he could smell them at all, was there a draft running through the apartment which mean that the smell of the cupcakes was just being carried into the kitchen and not through into the lounge? She panicked because she really needed him to smell them and so she picked them up with her oven gloves and stood just inside of the doorway, pleased when the steam rising from the cakes wafted through in the right direction.

After standing with the cooling rack in her hands for a whole minute and hearing nothing from Nathan whatsoever, she frowned. Why wasn't he reacting to this? She then slammed the cakes back down on the counter and marched through to the lounge, seeing a game of Gran Turismo paused on the ridiculously large TV screen he had insisted was necessary, and no Nathan sat on the couch. She furrowed her brow as she wandered through the rest of the apartment, looking for him in his bedroom, her bedroom, the bathroom, the study, but he was nowhere to be seen. She noticed that his keys weren't on the hook in the hallway and then realised that he must have gone out. That was just fucking typical.

She then marched into the kitchen and decided to start on the vanilla butter frosting while the cakes were cooling as something to distract her anger at the fact that she had spent so long mixing those ingredients together as a way of getting Nathan to give her the damn notebook back and he wasn't even here to appreciate, or rather be enticed, by her creation.

~*~

Half an hour later, Nathan returned to the building, and he could still smell the faint vanilla of the cupcakes when he walked into the apartment, which just made his mouth water uncontrollably. He walked into the lounge and noticed that Haley was sat on the sofa, having changed into a pair of fleece shorts and a tank top, with her arms crossed over her chest, not even acknowledging the fact that he had just walked in.

He continued down the corridor into the kitchen placed the Chinese he had been out to get, as well as the two bottles of her favourite wine that he had also managed to pick up, and the notebook that was starting to become his latest accessory given that it had been permanently attached to himself ever since he had found it, on the counter and immediately began searching every single cupboard for the cupcakes.

He groaned when he realised that she had obviously hidden them somewhere where he would never find them and so he gave up. He slid the notebook inside his jacket as he wandered to his bedroom, hiding it underneath his mattress as he had meant what he had said. He wasn't letting her have it back until she explained, even if she was going to use cupcakes as a bargaining chip, which he highly suspected was the case. He could resist a fucking cupcake right? At least he hoped he could. He then returned to the kitchen and started to get the food ready, before carrying it back into the lounge and placing it down on the coffee table.

Haley scowled at him as he walked into the lounge and then placed the Chinese food down on the table. She rolled her eyes. He knew Chinese food was her favourite, and she knew instantly, from the containers the food was in, that he had gone to her favourite restaurant to get the takeout, which was further away than his favourite. She instantly felt a little bad at the fact that she was withholding the cupcakes from him, given that he had gone to all this trouble for her, before remembering that her notebook was still being held captive by him, and all thoughts of caving and maybe giving him one cupcake were erased from her mind completely. She watched as he walked out of the room and returned with some plates, cutlery, two glasses and a bottle of her favourite wine.

Nathan sat down on the sofa and handed Haley a plate and some cutlery before opening the bottle of white wine and pouring them both a glass. He handed one of the glasses to her and noticed that she didn't even look at him before she launched herself forward and started to pile the food on her plate. He rolled his eyes at her, she could at least say thank you before diving in, but he brushed it aside because he did still have that notebook of hers. Once she had finished and had settled back on the sofa, he put some food on his plate before switching on the TV and turning it to ESPN, pleased to see that there was a basketball game showing, and that it had just started. He sat back and started to eat as he watched the game.

Haley huffed, wasn't it enough that he had her notebook; he was now taking control of the TV as well? She sat back though and didn't complain at all, for she had her bargaining chip tucked away ready for use as soon as they had both finished eating. She watched Nathan out of the corner of her eye; he was completely engrossed in the game and she always found it more entertaining to watch him than the TV when he watched sports, mainly because some of the facial expressions he made were so funny. She almost jumped out of her seat and chucked her entire plate of noodles on her lap when Nathan shouted something at the TV so loudly, but luckily she managed to save her plate just in time. She scowled at him harshly but he didn't even notice.

Half time was just about coming to an end and Nathan looked over at Haley's plate and saw that she had finished, and so he poured them both another glass of wine before he quickly piled up the plates and the empty containers and ran them into the kitchen, placing the containers in the trash and the plates and cutlery in the dishwasher, giving them a rinse first because otherwise he'd have to listen to another one of Haley's lectures once she discovered the still dirty plates when she unloaded the dishwasher in the morning.

As soon as Nathan left the room, Haley reached over to his side of the couch and grabbed the remote, flipping through the channels until she came to some mindless teen drama that would keep her brain occupied at least for the next fifty minutes or so. She reached down underneath the table which sat next to the sofa and pulled out the carton of cupcakes, picking one out for herself and then closing the lid and returning them to her hiding place. She sat back on the sofa; the cupcake placed by her thigh, ready for use as soon as Nathan came back in the room and began to watch the show, trying desperately to wipe the grin of her face as she didn't want to give anything away. That notebook was going to be in her custody very, very soon, she could almost taste the victory it was so damn close.

Nathan walked back into the lounge and sat down on his side of the sofa, watching the commercials pass on the TV. He looked over at Haley, who was looking more than a little pleased with herself over something, which he thought was strange, but he shrugged it off as he turned his attention back to the TV screen waiting for the game to come back on. He furrowed his brow as some weird, loud and trashy music started to play through the TV and he watched in horror as he realised that Haley had flipped the channel while he had been out of the room. He frantically looked for the remote control, which he instantly spotted on her arm of the sofa. "Haley, switch the TV back." He demanded, not ready to play this stupid game with her.

"No." Haley replied as she took a sip of her wine and placed it back in her lap, her eyes fixated on the TV screen, a self-satisfied grin present on her face, knowing that she was pissing Nathan off immensely, and she almost felt sorry for him, almost, because it was about to get so much worse for him, and he didn't have a clue about what was coming his way.

"Haley, come on, that was a really important game and I was watching it." Nathan whined as he eyed the remote control, which didn't go unnoticed by Haley, as he watched her hand lower onto it protectively. He had no idea how she did that, because her eyes were glued to the TV screen, it was like she had this sixth sense or something.

"I know you were, but it was boring me and I want to watch this." Haley returned, still not moving her eyes off the TV screen.

"But I don't want to watch this Haley, it's nothing but shit!" Nathan moaned as he eyed up the remote, knowing that there was no way he was going to be able to wrench it out of her grasp now, she'd only end up scratching him with her nails or something if he were to try and he was sure he still had the grooves of her nails planted on his arm from earlier, he didn't want any more Haley induced scars on his body.

"Tough." Haley responded, pleased to see that Nathan had seemed to give up arguing with her as he sat back in the sofa, his arms crossed tightly over his chest. She looked at him out of the corner of her eye, his own glaring at the TV, which almost made her chuckle.

She waited until the next ad break, knowing that each passing second that he had to spend watching what she wanted instead of his precious basketball game would wind him up just that little bit more, and then she pulled the cupcake out from where she had been hiding it next to her leg.

Nathan watched Haley shift from the corner of his eye and then turned his head, his mouth hanging open in absolute horror as she took a bite out of one of the cupcakes.

Haley turned to face Nathan just as she took a rather large bite of the cupcake. "Mmmm. So good." She moaned before turning her attention back to the TV, licking off the butter frosting from her lips.

Nathan waited patiently for her to hand one over to him. She had to know how torturous it was for him to watch her eat one of those amazing cakes in front of him, she wouldn't be so mean as to not give him one, not after he had walked all the way to her favourite Chinese takeout restaurant and picked up two bottles of her favourite wine, would she? He knew that the notebook was still in his possession but still, didn't what he had done for her tonight count for anything? Didn't that warrant one measly, little, gorgeous, fucking amazing cake? He watched, his mouth still agape as she took another bite of the damn cake she had in her hand. And he soon realised as she continued to ignore him that apparently, food and wine was not enough for her to share. He knew exactly what she wanted, she wanted the damn notebook. Well she wasn't going to get it. It was just a cake. He didn't need it. _I do not want a cupcake. _He chanted to himself.

He settled himself back down in the sofa and tried to get into the piece of shit program that she was watching, but now that he had seen the cupcake, he couldn't concentrate on anything but the damn cupcake. God, she was killing him. He watched out of the corner of his eye as she leaned in to take another bite, and he willed his eyes not to look, he didn't want to torment himself any more that she was already doing, but his eyes just seemed to zone right in on the thing. He could feel the growl building in his chest, the temptation was far too much for him to take, and as much as keeping the notebook meant that he would have something to tease Haley about, he just could not resist one of those cakes. He clenched his fists together, calling in his last inch of willpower but it was no use. He needed one of those cakes. He stood up and stalked out of the room to his bedroom, muttering various swear words underneath his breath as he moved out of the room.

Haley sat there with a self-satisfied grin on her face. Her plan was working to perfection and she knew that it was probably just a matter of seconds until he caved and gave the notebook back to her. Only then she watched in disbelief as Nathan got up from the sofa and walked out of the lounge. She heard him walk along to his bedroom and cursed to herself. She hadn't bargained on him removing himself out of the way of the temptation of the cupcake. That hadn't been what she thought would happen at all. She expected him to beg and plead with her until she made her demands, the notebook and no mention of the notebook ever again, she was going to make him sign something if she had to, in exchange for a cupcake, two if he was lucky. But now he had gone and locked himself away in his bedroom, presumably for the rest of the night, which wasn't good, not good at all.

Nathan grabbed the notebook from under his mattress and marched his way back into the living room. He sat down on the sofa with the notebook held firmly in his hands and watched as Haley smiled smugly at him. "How many cupcakes are left?" He asked once he had given her enough time to look at the notebook and realise what was at stake here.

"Eleven." Haley returned, still unable to hold back the smile that was currently plastered all over her face. Her plan was working; he had just hidden the notebook away in his bedroom. She was feeling more than a little pleased with herself right now to say the least.

"I want all of them." Nathan demanded, laying his cards on the table.

Haley scoffed at him. After all the damn trouble she had gone through, beating that butter and sugar together until it felt like her arm was going to drop off, did he honestly think that she was just going to hand over all the remaining cakes to him? "Fat chance." She replied as she took another bite of her cupcake, watching in satisfaction as Nathan eyed it greedily.

God, he really wanted a damn cake. "Ten of them then?" He said distractedly as he watched Haley sink her teeth into the creamy frosting and then the light sponge.

"Three." Haley returned to him with a mouth full of cupcake, going in with a low offer as she needed some room to bargain with him.

"Eight." Nathan responded, licking his now too dry lips, thoughts of eating one of those delicious cakes completely warping his mind.

"Six." Haley responded as she turned to him with a raised eyebrow. She was doubling her offer, and she watched as Nathan furrowed his brow, considering it.

"Seven." Nathan demanded, needing one more because the first one would be demolished in a total of two bites, that was how much he needed it, so if he had seven he could see the demolished cake as an extra one and not feel too guilty about how quickly it had been eaten as he would know that he still had six left to devour at a later stage.

"Okay seven, as long as the notebook never gets mentioned again. Ever, and I mean that Nathan." Haley warned.

Nathan frowned. The notebook was gold as far as being used in future disagreements and was something that was going to be extremely effective as a bargaining tool, he had the thing memorised and he could easily threaten to tell people about it. But the cakes were just stunning. "Deal." Nathan said as he watched Haley lean over the sofa and pull out the container from beside the couch and hand him the first cupcake, which he immediately bit into. "God!" Nathan cried out. "I swear these get better every single time." He moaned with pleasure as he bit into the delicious cake.

Haley handed him the rest of his cakes in the container and rolled her eyes at how quickly he ate the first one, before he handed over the notebook. Haley stood up as soon as she had it in her hands and ran to her bedroom, hiding it away under a pile of clothes in one of her drawers, ready to be burned as soon as was practical, before coming back into the lounge, finding that Nathan had switched the channel back to ESPN. She rolled her eyes as she sat down, seeing two empty cupcake wrappers on the coffee table and watched the game with him, knowing that it would be a completely wasted effort if she asked him to change the channel, and besides, she had the notebook back, and a promise that he would never mention it again, which was exactly what she had wanted.

Once the game had finished, Nathan got up, handed Haley the remote and grabbed the second bottle of wine from the fridge before bringing it into the lounge. He poured both himself and Haley a glass and handed her glass back to her as he took a sip of his own. He then sat back down in the sofa and turned to face Haley, who was channel flicking. "Hales..." He said catching her attention.

"Hmmm." Haley returned as she continued flipping through the channels.

Nathan took a deep breath before continuing. "I know we said that I wasn't going to mention the notebook again..." He started.

Haley immediately stopped flicking through the channels and turned to face Nathan. "I will take the rest of your cupcakes away from you Nathan if you don't shut up right now." She threatened as she briefly glanced at his container of cakes which was currently placed on the coffee table, letting him know that she meant what she said.

Nathan instantly grabbed the box and huddled them to him, there was no way she was going to take them away from him, not when he had worked so hard to get them in the first place, and sacrificed five of them to Haley. "I know what we said Hales, but I just want to know what it is, that's all."

Haley could already feel herself growing red, the blush covering her face. "Nathan I wish you would drop it, it's embarrassing." She said as she crossed one of her arms over her chest and brought the wine glass to her lips as she took a sip.

"Why is it embarrassing? It's only me Hales; you know you can tell me anything." Nathan returned, and he meant it. "Look I'm sorry for being a bit of an ass about it today, but honestly I was just a little bit shocked and confused about what I stumbled upon."

Haley bit down on her lip and raised her eyes to Nathan's, realising it was a big mistake because it only made her want to tell him about the list. He was right, it was only him, they were best friends and she did know that she could tell him anything and he wouldn't judge her about whatever she told him. She took a deep breath and lowered her eyes to her wine glass, suddenly finding it fascinating as she ran her fingers up and down the long stem. "After I broke up with Chase, Brooke thought it would be a good idea for me to write down some stuff. You know like a fantasy list as a way of, I don't know, broadening my mind when it came to sex or working out what I wanted from sex or something,. Not that it worked of course."

Nathan watched her with an earnest expression, his first thoughts about what the list was were confirmed, and he wasn't at all surprised that Brooke had been involved in this thing because it wasn't really very Haley like to do something like that. But there was still something niggling away at him. "Haley?" He asked and waited for her eyes to meet his, and he smiled softly and shook his head at how red she was. "There's nothing to be ashamed or embarrassed about gorgeous."

"I know that." Haley replied but she couldn't help that she was. She took a sip of her wine and looked back at the TV, flicking the channels until she settled on some romantic comedy that she had seen a thousand times before, but it would hopefully distract her for a bit and calm down the burning in her cheeks.

Nathan sat back in the chair but didn't take his eyes off Haley. He wanted to ask, but only he didn't because he knew how uncomfortable this was all making her, but he had to know. If this was a fantasy list then it had to be true but it just couldn't be, not after she had been with Chase for five years. He cleared his throat before he started talking. "So item number one on that list..." He started.

Haley turned around to face him. "I know what you're asking Nathan, and the answer is yes, it's true." She said before returning her attention back to the TV, completely dying of mortification.

Nathan tried to wrap his head around it but he just couldn't. He let out a long breath, completely in shock. "So you've never..." He started.

Haley sighed heavily, turning her attention back to Nathan. "No Nathan, I've never had an orgasm from sex." She said and then turned her eyes back to the TV, hoping that now he had the answer he would leave it all alone.

"Wow." Nathan breathed out, completely shocked at this revelation of hers. "But you've..."

Haley rolled her eyes at him. "Of course I've had an orgasm before Nathan."

"Okay, well at least that's something I suppose." Nathan returned, wondering if they were self-induced or not. He shook his head at the thoughts running through his head. He knew that Haley had only ever had sex with Chase and no one else but he still couldn't believe that she was twenty-five years old, and hadn't had an orgasm from sex. He'd understand, obviously, if she'd never had sex before, but she had, and it was just wrong and wouldn't sit right with him at all. "So Chase never..." He started, needing to ask again for clarification purposes.

"No." Haley interrupted him, this time not bothering to take her eyes off the TV screen. "Can you just drop it now please and stick to the deal we made earlier?"

"Did you talk to him about it?" Nathan asked, unable to just drop it like she requested. He had to know if she had bought this up with Chase because being in a five year relationship and having no orgasms from sex? Well she must have talked to him about it, how the hell could she have not?

Haley sighed again, pressing the mute button as she turned to face Nathan. "No I didn't talk to him about it."

"Why not?" Nathan asked, now completely puzzled by all this. "Didn't he kind of know that you weren't climaxing?"

"I faked it, and got very good at faking it." Haley shrugged like it was no big deal. Most girls faked it at some point, didn't they? At least that was what she had read in Cosmo or some other magazine while she had been growing up.

"Every time?" Nathan asked incredulously, wondering how the hell she managed to keep it up. If she had sex regularly with Chase, which is what you would expect from a long-term relationship, well surely she would have just got sick of it in the end. What the hell was she getting out of sex? It shouldn't all be one sided, according to him anyway. Sex was about giving and receiving, not just taking.

"Most times." Haley returned.

Nathan furrowed his brow. "What and the times that you didn't fake it he just got what he wanted and then stopped?" He asked, wondering what the hell kind of selfish that was. He always made sure his partner was satisfied; he'd thought that most men had been the same too.

"Nathan, please can you just drop it, it's not a big deal, honestly." Haley pleaded with him, wanting this subject closed right this instant and to remain closed for the rest of their lives.

Nathan sighed angrily. He didn't know who he was angry at, well mostly he was angry at Chase for being such a selfish fucker but he was also a little pissed at Haley for not telling him, or asking him to do something different. "Hales I'm sorry but it is a big deal!" He retorted a bit more harshly than he had intended, taking all his frustration out on her because she was sitting next to him and Chase wasn't, thank God because if he was he'd be on the floor bleeding by now, after everything he'd done this was just yet another thing for Nathan to hold against him.

"No Nathan, it isn't." Haley returned in a stern tone, feeling incredibly pissed off that he wasn't doing what she wanted him to do, which was to just leave the subject well alone. So she'd never had an orgasm from sex, was it really that big of a deal that they needed to have an argument about it? Her relationship with Chase was in the past as far as she was concerned. Her insecurities might still be with her but she didn't want to have to explain herself to Nathan.

Nathan ran a hand through his hair, trying to calm himself down a little. "Sorry Hales, I didn't mean to say it like that, it's just, why didn't you talk to him about it?" He asked. "I mean you must have got really frustrated with him, why not just tell him?"

"Because Nathan, it's embarrassing!" Haley returned, in a high pitched voice.

"Haley, honestly, you should not feel embarrassed about talking to your boyfriend about sex! I mean for crying out loud! You should have called that selfish bastard up on his shit Hales. What kind of a sexual relationship did you have with him anyway? He can't have been any good at sex; either that or he was too fucking self-absorbed to even think about your needs..."

"Not everything in a relationship is about sex Nathan!" Haley interrupted him as she spun around to face him.

"I know that Haley but it is still a pretty important part of a relationship, you know, being intimate with someone. And you should at least have the confidence to tell him that what he was doing was shit, you know, suggest changing it up a bit or something." Nathan returned.

"I don't think that would have gone down too well Nathan." Haley returned as she took a gulp of her wine.

Nathan frowned. "Haley if I'm being totally honest with you, if I were in a long-term relationship with someone and the girl I was with wasn't enjoying sex, I would want them to talk to me about it." He said.

"Well I didn't feel comfortable talking to him about it." Haley replied defensively. The truth was that she was sure it was her and not Chase and she really didn't want to bring up the fact that she had been faking orgasms every single time that she'd had sex with him because she knew that it wasn't him and he'd put the blame, rightly so, on her anyway. "I mean honestly Nathan, what the hell was I supposed to say? 'Oh by the way Chase, I've been faking orgasms for the past three years'?" She scoffed.

"Yes!" Nathan returned. "That's exactly what you should have said to him." He continued, and then watched as Haley stood up and walked into the kitchen. She was running away from discussing this, wanting the subject to be closed but he needed her to understand that she should have the confidence to talk to her boyfriends about this kind of thing. So he stood up and followed her into the kitchen with his wine glass in his hands.

Haley was breathing deeply, trying rein in the doubts that were bubbling away inside of her. She was sure that Chase wasn't the problem and that she was, in fact, she was more than convinced of that fact. She could feel those treacherous tears forming in her eyes and she tried to blink them away as she walked straight towards the freezer. She pulled out the bottle of vodka and just as she was closing the door she felt Nathan take it out of her grasp. "Nathan give that back." She demanded as she shut the door to the freezer and turned around to face him.

Nathan shook his head at her and placed the bottle of vodka down on the countertop beside him along with his glass of wine. He watched as she wiped at her eyes and wondered why the hell she was crying about this. He hadn't said any of this with the intention of upsetting her, he just wanted her to realise that talking about sex, especially when it wasn't working with someone, wasn't a crime. And now that she was nearly crying, he wanted to just give her a hug. He walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her back and tried to pull her to him, but she put her hands up on his chest and tried to push him away. He took one step back and looked down at her, seeing that she was currently looking down at her hands and was fiddling with her fingers. He sighed softly at how silly she could be and then placed his hand underneath her chin, raising her eyes to meet his. "What are you getting so upset for gorgeous?" He asked.

Haley looked away from him, not wanting to admit the real reason as to why she was getting so frustrated with herself. "Nothing." She replied before returning her gaze to him and forcing a smile on her face.

"It's obviously something Hales, if it's what I said to you then I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you…" Nathan started, seeing right through the façade she was showing him.

"I know you didn't Nathan." Haley returned, and she knew that he didn't, he was just trying to help, he was trying to make her realise that she shouldn't be such a little girl when it came to these types of discussions, but she just couldn't help it. It was the way that she was and she wasn't sure if that was going to change anytime soon. But regardless of that thought, his words weren't upsetting her, it was her own insecurities. "I'm not upset at what you said." She continued, not wanting him to think that he had made her cry.

"Well then what are you upset about gorgeous?" Nathan asked, the concern etched across his face as his eyes searched her face for answers, but he didn't find any. He watched as her expression changed and knew that she was reinforcing the walls she built up when she was trying to protect herself from something, but if it wasn't his earlier words then he didn't have a clue what is was, which was concerning him deeply. "Hales what is it?"

"It's nothing." Haley returned with a frown on her face and stepped away from Nathan, wrapping her arms around herself as she leaned against the countertop behind her.

"Hales it is something and I want you to tell me what it is." Nathan demanded as he ran a hand through his hair. He could see that she was distressed about something and he just wanted to know what it was so that he could try and fix it. All sorts of thoughts were running through his head but he couldn't cling on to any of them for long enough to completely comprehend what they were. All he knew was that he was incredibly worried about what was according to Haley nothing.

Haley sighed deeply, wondering if she could voice the very thought that had been niggling away at her for almost six years or so. She'd never told anyone this before and she supposed if she was going to tell someone then it might as well be her best friend, but she somehow couldn't find her voice, or the words to begin.

Nathan was starting to get impatient with her. The longer that she didn't tell him, the worse the thoughts in his head were getting. "Haley, did Chase do something to you? Like force himself on you?" He asked, practically having to hold his fists down at his sides to stop them from trembling with anger. He couldn't even begin to think about how much fury would wash over him if that were the case. He would literally hunt Chase down and kill him with his own bare hands if he had done anything of the sort to Haley.

"What?" Haley asked as she flicked her gaze over to him. "Don't be so stupid Nathan, I know he was an ass but he wasn't that much of a bastard." She said as she rolled her eyes and watched as he relaxed a little, but she could tell that he was still tense and the longer she didn't tell him what was on her mind, she knew that he would just become even angrier at her for not telling him.

"Well if it's not that Haley, then what the hell has got you doubling up those walls you build around yourself?" He asked through gritted teeth, really just wanting her to spit it the hell out.

Haley furrowed her brow and took a deep breath as she tightened her grip around herself. "It's about what we were discussing before on the couch." She started, hoping that he could take a hint and work it out for himself, therefore stopping the need for her to actually say the words out loud.

Nathan took a deep breath, pleased that he seemed to be getting somewhere with her now at least and tried to remember what they had been discussing on the couch, the list, number one on the list and the fact that she hadn't had an orgasm from sex before. He tried to connect the dots, the fact that she was upset about not ever having had an orgasm from sex before was completely understandable, but there was more to it than that, he could tell by looking at the way she was standing, biting down on her lip and playing with her fingers nervously, that there was more but he just didn't know what the hell it was. "I don't understand." He eventually said when all the thinking and waiting became too much for him to bear.

Haley continued to gnaw at her lip with her teeth before raising her eyes to his, and then she looked away again, staring down at the floor. It was going to be much easier for her to say this if she wasn't staring at her best friend. "I don't think Chase was the problem." She said quietly.

Nathan had to strain his ears to hear her properly. "You don't think Chase was the problem for what?" He asked, wondering where the hell she was going with this. Of course it was Chase's problem that she hadn't climaxed from sex before, he obviously was shit in bed and didn't have a fucking clue what he was doing. So what the hell was she banging on about now?

Haley lifted her gaze and looked up at Nathan, finding herself completely flustered at the fact that he wasn't getting what she was trying to tell him, realising that she was going to have to just say the words out loud for him to understand. "I think I'm the problem Nathan, I don't think I can orgasm like that." She said, almost shouting the words with the aggravation she felt.

Nathan frowned as her words registered with him and then he realised that she was blaming herself for this, which was just plain ridiculous. He scoffed at her. "What the hell gave you that idea?" He asked incredulously, not believing that she wasn't going to hold Chase responsible for this. He knew that she could be a little insecure about things but he had no idea how she could even begin to blame herself for this.

Haley shrugged. "I don't know, I read some stuff. Some women can't do that Nathan." She responded as she tightened her grip on herself yet again.

"You've got to be kidding me Hales. You honestly believe that this is your fault and not Chase's?" He asked in amazement.

Haley didn't say anything; instead she took a deep sigh and glanced quickly down at the floor before lifting her eyes back to Nathan's, feeling completely exposed.

"Haley please trust me, I can guarantee that you can orgasm from sex, and I can also guarantee that this is entirely Chase's fault and not yours. I can't believe you could even think something like that…" He started muttering to himself.

"Well how the hell can you guarantee that I can Nathan, it's not like I only had sex once for crying out loud." Haley returned back to him, feeling the strange need to defend her theory.

"I know that Hales, but you've only ever had sex with one person." Nathan threw back at her.

"So, that doesn't matter! If I wasn't able to, you know, throughout a five year relationship, and he was, doesn't that kind of confirm the fact that I just can't do it?" She replied.

"No Haley it doesn't, all that confirms is the fact that he was crap at sex." Nathan replied, wanting to bang her head against the wall so that this would all sink in and she would stop blaming herself for it. It was the most stupid thing he had ever heard in his life.

"Whatever Nathan, it doesn't matter anyway." Haley returned before she started to walk out of the kitchen, not wanting to argue with him anymore than she already had about something that she knew was true, whether he was going to accept it or not.

Nathan watched as she began to walk out of the kitchen, finding that his whole brain was distorted with confusion. How the hell could she think such a thing? If she'd had an orgasm before, then she surely knew that she was capable of climaxing, so why the hell didn't she think that she could do it from sex? It just didn't make any sense, and he hated the fact that she was beating herself up about it so much. He had this bothersome feeling that deep down she somehow thought that this was partly why their relationship had ended and he just couldn't have her thinking things like that, not when they were totally unfounded and just plain ridiculous. He spotted his wine glass on the counter and finished it off in a large gulp before placing it back down on the counter. "I'll show you." He said before he had a chance to even stop himself from speaking.

Haley completely froze at his words. She turned around to face him, wondering if he had just said what she thought he had. "Excuse me?" She asked in complete shock, sure that her mouth was hanging wide open.

Nathan shuffled on his feet as he realised what had just come out of his mouth, before straightening up, determined to show her that she was talking absolute shit. "I'll prove to you that you can orgasm though sex." He said clearly, so that she knew he wasn't messing around.

Haley couldn't help but laugh at him. "And how the hell are you going to do that?" She asked as she shook her head at him. "If you are going to prove this to me then that means that we have to sleep together, which…" She said, her voice trailing off as she watched Nathan raise his eyebrow at her in a 'so what' kind of way. He was serious. How the hell could he be serious about something like this?

Nathan breathed in deeply as he tried to rationalise his suggestion to her. "Look Hales, you're beating yourself up about something that I know is completely false and I know that I can prove to you that it is a load of crap. Okay, so it means that we're going to have to have sex to do it, but I promise you that you can orgasm from sex. I can show you that you can and then maybe you can stop blaming yourself for something so silly."

Haley had to stop him before he went any further. "Nathan you and I cannot have sex!" She said in an incredibly high pitched voice, needing him to understand that it just wasn't an option.

"Why not Hales?" Nathan returned quickly. "It won't change anything between us, it'll just be like, I don't know, me doing you a favour. Like when Lucas pushed you in the pool at the summer house when you were seven and I got him back for you, or like when I saved you from Lauren the bitch when you were thirteen and she was taking the piss out of you for scoring so highly in that English test. Or like me paying for your flight home from Chicago when you had no money to pay for it yourself. It's no different to any of that." He reasoned.

"Nathan this is not something like any of that at all, this is something completely different." Haley returned, still not believing that he had just offered to have sex with her.

"It is a favour Haley; I'll be putting your mind at ease, clearing your conscience. I don't want you to go into your next relationship with someone scared stiff to get intimate with them because you don't think you can orgasm from sex. And I know that you will do exactly that!" Nathan threw back at her.

Haley had to frown at that one. He was right, of course. Out of the five hundred or whatever dates that Brooke had set up for her over the last year, the three guys that she had kind of liked had never amounted to anything because of her insecurities, and it was far better to stop anything from developing into more for her after one date so that she wouldn't have to face her fears at a later stage.

"Come on Hales, it'll just be one time and I swear that nothing will change between us. If it does I'll, I don't know… give you back the remaining cupcakes I have left and take you on a trip to London as a way of saying sorry." Nathan pushed again, wanting to do this for her.

Haley had to laugh at that one. "Well you must be pretty convinced that nothing will change between us if you're willing to use the cupcakes as a sacrifice."

"I swear I'll never ask you to make them for me again if anything changes between us Hales, that's how sure I am that it won't." Nathan returned with a smirk.

Haley frowned as she considered his offer, still not sure that it was a good idea, in fact, to Haley it seemed like if she were to say yes to this, that she and Nathan would be walking into a complete disaster zone. "What happens if I don't orgasm?" She asked as she raised an eyebrow in a challenging way.

Nathan raised his back at her in return. "Trust me gorgeous, you will."

Haley had to laugh at his optimism, because she was so sure that she wouldn't. She shook her head, not believing what was going to come out of her mouth next. "Alright fine. Let's see if you can make me orgasm, which, by the way I am totally sure that you won't be able to but anyway, if you want to try then fine. When?"

Nathan grinned at her pessimism, because he was going to make damn sure that she did orgasm so that she knocked all of these stupid irrational thoughts right out of her head. "How about now?" He asked.

"Now?" Haley squeaked. She'd been banking on having at least a bit of time to prepare herself for this.

Nathan shrugged. "Why not now?"

"Because…" Haley started as she looked down at her clothes. She was hardly dressed for sex, all she had on was a pair of shorts and a tank top, but then she realised that it didn't matter what the hell she was wearing because it was Nathan and sex with him didn't mean anything. She then gave up trying to come up with any excuses because if this was just one friend helping out another then it didn't really matter what she was wearing or where or when they did it, did it? But she couldn't help the fact that she had butterflies the size of giant moths fluttering around in her stomach. It had been over a year since she had last had sex, she was right to be nervous about this, wasn't she?

"So you're good with right now?" Nathan asked nonchalantly, trying to ease the tension he could practically feel running between them both and he saw the hesitation from Haley once again, before she slightly nodded her head. "Okay, so where do you want to do it, my room or yours?" He asked, pleasantly surprised that she was going along with this idea of his.

Haley thought about it for a second, where the hell would she feel more comfortable with this? God she had never felt more uncomfortable in her life. It wouldn't matter if they were outside and he was about to lay her on a bed of rose thorns or something, did it really matter where this ridiculous thing was about to happen? "My room." She said and then watched as Nathan walked past where she was currently standing in the doorway of the kitchen and grabbed onto her hand, and began walking them towards her bedroom. "I'm not going to kiss you." Haley blurted out as she walked along with him.

Nathan stopped walking and turned around to face her, rolling his eyes at her. "Fine, no kissing on the lips. I wouldn't want to do that either." He replied and then continued to walk along the corridor with her towards her room.

"What do you mean no kissing on the lips?" Haley asked nervously.

Nathan stopped walking when they were outside her door and dropped her hand from his. "Well Haley I'm not just going to get naked and thrust into you right away, am I?" He said and chuckled as Haley blushed furiously.

"No I suppose not." Haley said while looking down at her fingers which she was currently playing with nervously. "So no kissing on the lips, are there any other rules?" She asked.

Nathan rolled his eyes and opened her bedroom door before walking inside and turning her light on. "Stop trying to overcomplicate this Haley. I already told you, I'm simply going to show you that you can orgasm from sex, that's all."

Haley closed her eyes briefly, wondering if she really should be doing this, before following him inside and closing the door behind her. Her room was a complete state from when she had been trying to find that damn notebook last night and she reminded herself to actually physically hurt Brooke the next time she saw her. Why she had to bring the damn list up with her last night she'd never know, but she was sure in some way that this was all her fault, somehow it had to be.

"So, do you want me to take your clothes off or do you want us to undress ourselves?" Nathan asked her once she had closed the door.

Haley could feel the blush rising to her cheeks yet again and she realised that she couldn't see him completely naked, she just couldn't, it would be weird and to then think that he was going to see her naked was just even weirder. She quickly reached up and flicked the light off, plunging the room into darkness, except for the slither of moonlight that filtered in through her window. "I think we should undress ourselves." She said nervously.

"Okay." Nathan said and took his polo shirt and lifted it up over his head, throwing it down on the floor somewhere. He then reached down and unbuckled the belt on his jeans, before unbuttoning the buttons and sliding them down his legs, letting go of them as they landed in a thud on the floor. To Nathan, this was simply just sex. It didn't mean anything and he had meant what he had said, he was just doing her a favour. He couldn't have her being so insecure about something he could correct.

Haley could hear his clothes hitting the floor and she knew that he had to be naked or nearly naked right about now. She closed her eyes, trying to calm her building nerves and turned around, not really sure why she was doing that as it was dark in the room but somehow it kind of made it a bit easier for her to begin undressing herself if she wasn't facing him. She reached slowly down to the hem of her tank top and pulled it over her head, letting it drop to the floor softly. She then reached down for her shorts and hesitated for a second as she lowered her thumb into the waistband and then pulled them down her body stepping out of them so that she was left in nothing but her underwear and all she felt was just weird, knowing what was going to happen next, it was all strange and foreign and she had no idea what was going to happen if they went through with this. She wasn't sure if she really wanted to find out either. And as much as she knew that was the case, she was also hesitating because she didn't want Nathan to try this and for it not to work. He sounded so convinced that he could do this, so much so that she had almost started to believe him…

Nathan could tell that she was hesitating and as much as he knew that this wasn't the most conventional way to spend a Saturday night with your best friend, he still wanted to do this, she had to know that what happened with Chase was not her fault. He walked over to where he saw the silhouette of her body across the room and wrapped his arms around her waist before lowering his mouth to her neck, placing feather light kisses in the same spot as his thumbs moved in what he hoped was relaxing circles on the skin of her stomach. He had touched her body countless times before, even matching her current state of undress when they would spend weekends up at the summer house playing in the pool, with her on his shoulders, but there was something entirely different about the way she felt to him right now.

God he was kissing her neck and his hands were on her near naked body. What the hell was she doing? She closed her eyes and tried to stop thinking of the disaster she was sure she and Nathan were walking into and she couldn't help the fact that she wiggled away from him and then twisted around to face him. "Nathan I don't think this is a good idea…"

Nathan sighed as she wiggled away from him. "Hales, if you don't want to do this then that's fine, we can stop this right now. I know that you must be thinking that this is going to change things between us but I promise it won't, I'll still be your Nathan afterwards and you'll still be my Haley."

Haley turned away from him again; she wasn't sure why but somehow not looking at him made it easier for her to think. "You promise nothing will change?" She asked, the trepidation clear in the tone of her voice.

"I promise Hales, but as I said, if you don't want to do this then just tell me. We can put our clothes back on and go back into the lounge and watch a film or something." Nathan returned softly as he watched the back of Haley's head nod at him. What the hell did that mean? Did she want him to stop or continue? "Hales..?" He asked.

"It's okay. I mean, I'm fine with this." Haley said quietly as she felt Nathan's hands begin to ghost along her stomach as he stepped forward and lowered his mouth to her neck again. She could feel his warm breath fan out on her skin, tickling her almost, as his fingers danced lightly over her stomach.

"Have you got a condom Hales?" Nathan asked as he hovered just above her skin.

"I went on the pill last month and had a test done at the same time, I'm clean." Haley responded.

"I had one done two weeks ago and I'm fine too, but I'll use one if you want." Nathan said.

Haley shook her head. "No need." She said as she the felt Nathan's lips touch her skin softly, his hands continuing to run over her stomach.

Nathan continued to kiss her neck lightly, his lips landing in exactly the same spot each time as he moved his fingers over her skin. He lifted his mouth up and softly trailed his lips closer to her ear, finding her pulse point and he placed another kiss on her neck right on top of where her pulse was beating underneath her skin. "You okay gorgeous?" He whispered into her skin.

Haley nodded her head and tried desperately hard to relax but there was this voice that was shouting at her in her head, just repeating the fact that Nathan was kissing her neck, that she and Nathan were going to have sex over and over. That everything was going to be different between them once they had finished this.

Nathan moved his hands up to her waist and ghosted his hands up her sides and underneath her arms before he took a small step back from her and then trailed them along the lace of the bra she had on. It was white, he could tell from the moonlight that was shining in from the window and he found the clasp and unfastened it, feeling the material begin to hang loosely on her body. He then trailed his hands up her shoulder blades and then found the straps that sat on her shoulders. He started moving them down her arm as he leaned in and placed a kiss right in the middle of the top of her spine. He could tell that she was still nervous and he kind of was too. "Just relax Hales." He said softly as he lifted his mouth from her skin, peeled her bra off her body and threw it down on the floor.

Haley breathed out shakily and she shuddered when she felt his hands move to the underside of her breast, softly caressing the skin there and she closed her eyes, feeling herself begin to relax a little underneath his touch. She felt his thumbs move in slow circles as they moved up towards her nipples and then she felt his fingers moving in circles around them. She moaned when she felt his mouth land on her pulse point at the same time his thumbs grazed over her hardened nipples.

Nathan could feel her beginning to relax but she was still a little apprehensive. "That's it gorgeous." He whispered into his skin as he opened his mouth slightly and ran his tongue languidly over her pulse point as his thumbs continued to move over her nipples. God she tasted phenomenal, like vanilla and… just like a cupcake or something. He felt her shudder slightly underneath his touch as she moaned breathily and leaned her body further into his.

Haley leaned back into his chest and could feel his hard cock pressing into her back through his boxers. She thought that she would jump away from something like that but she actually found herself getting even more turned on at the fact that it was her who had got him that way. She closed her eyes, feeling that his hands had now left her breasts and were now trailing down her stomach. She flinched slightly from his touch when he ran over a particularly sensitive spot on her skin.

Nathan smirked into her neck when he felt her shudder from where his hands were moving, as he already knew where all her tickle spots were.

"Shut up Nathan." Haley said with a grin on her face, her eyes still closed, knowing that he had run his hands over the sides of her ribs on purpose.

"Make me." Nathan mumbled as ran his teeth along her neck and felt her giggle underneath him, which in turn caused him to start laughing too, given that his hands were currently running over her half naked body, his cock was pressed into her back and he was about to take her panties off, yet they still had managed to find something to bicker about with each other.

Haley shook her head slightly as she felt Nathan's mouth close over the skin of her neck, pleased that even in the middle of all this, they were still the same old Nathan and Haley, which helped ease her doubts of things changing between them afterwards somewhat. She felt his fingers hook into the waistband of her panties and she stopped laughing as she felt his mouth move over her skin towards the back of her neck, leaving a trail of kisses as he did so and then he started to leave butterfly kisses all over her back as he lowered her panties to her ankles, and she stepped out of them. Her breathing had increased tenfold as she realised that she was now standing completely naked with her best friend standing behind her, but somehow the tension had just evaporated between them. She felt Nathan move back up her body and he took one of her hands in his. She twisted around as he walked them both towards the bed.

Nathan turned around to face her as he reached the side of the bed and smiled down at her as he looked into her eyes, seeing no hint of nervousness in them at all, which he was slightly surprised about. In all honesty he thought that she should have run away screaming as soon as her bra was off.

Haley lowered her eyes to his chest and reached out as she placed her hands on his body. She had obviously seen him half naked before and she couldn't deny that he had a good body. She ran her fingers down the middle of his chest and started to trace the lines of his ab muscles, until her hands found their way to the waistband of his boxers. She bit down on her lip as she pushed her hands underneath the elastic and then trailed her hands to his hips before lowering them down his body. He stepped out of them and then as she stood up to him again, she felt his hands wrap around her back as he lifted her off the floor. She wrapped her legs instinctively around him as he turned them around and lowered them to the bed.

Nathan felt Haley's legs unwrap from around his waist as she laid them out on the bed with her knees in the air. He was still sat in between them and he smiled down at her from his position above her before his eyes roamed over her body. You'd have to be a blind fool if you didn't notice that Haley was attractive. He lowered his mouth to her chest as he shifted down on the bed and left three kisses in between her breasts as his hand trailed up her leg before slipping to the inside of her thigh. He then trailed his finger closer until he found her slit and then trailed his middle finger up until he grazed it lightly over her clit, finding her wet and ready for him. He felt her arch her back and lift her hips towards him, wanting more, but he knew that her body at least was ready for him. He ran his finger lazily over her clit and could hear her heart thudding in her chest.

Haley gasped when she felt Nathan's finger graze over her clit, the tingles already beginning to make themselves known inside her body. She felt Nathan smirk a little into her chest before he lifted his head up from her body. She licked her lips and then he climbed up her body again until his face was hovering above hers. She could feel his hard cock pressing against the top of her thigh and she almost moaned at how close he was to her. She couldn't believe how much she wanted him inside of her. It had been a whole damn year since she'd done this with someone and the craving for sex was making itself known.

"Last chance to say no gorgeous. Are you sure you want to do this?" Nathan said as his eyes roamed over her face looking for any hint of apprehension. But all she did was nod her head at him and wrap her hands around his neck as she looked into his eyes, and he was then sure that she wouldn't regret this, because that was the last thing that he wanted to happen. If he had seen any hint of trepidation in her eyes, he would have stopped. But he was more than a little happy that he hadn't found any because he was so close to her now and needed to be inside of her, the anticipation had been building ever since they had walked into her room and it was getting almost too much for him to bear.

Haley felt his finger move from where it had been on her clit and she whimpered at the loss. She watched as he chuckled above her and she moved her hands down his back and slapped his other arm that was holding up all his weight to the side of her shoulder playfully.

Nathan rolled his eyes at her before wrapping his hand around his cock and guiding it towards Haley. He ran his cock up and down her slit a few times, coating his cock with her juices, looking down into her eyes one last time.

Haley could see the silent question he was asking her, knowing that he was asking her one last time if she wanted to do this before it was too late for her to say no. She nodded her head once and then felt him push his cock inside of her. She closed her eyes and she heard Nathan groan above her as she bit down on her lip as he entered her to stop herself from moaning out loudly.

"God Hales you're so damn tight." Nathan groaned as he started to move his hips in and out of her, while lowering his mouth to her neck and leaving hot, wet kisses over her skin.

Haley could feel how big he was, he was so much bigger than Chase had been. He was literally filling every part of her, and it just felt so good. He started in a slow pace, entering her with controlled deep thrusts and she couldn't help but moan softly at the sensations building up inside of her. She felt him pick up the pace a little, which she was damn thankful for because his previous slow motion thing was starting to drive her crazy with wanting more. She could feel him hitting spots deep inside of her that she never knew had existed and she found herself wanting him deeper and wanting more from him. She lifted her legs up of the bed and wrapped them around his waist, and lifted her hips to meet him, gasping as she felt him go deeper, just like she had wanted.

God Nathan could feel himself going even deeper and damn it he needed to up the pace even more because he wanted to feel more of her. Her legs were now wrapped around his waist and he could feel her hips rising up to meet him thrust for thrust and as he upped the pace, she continued to lift her hips up towards him, matching his increased speed and he couldn't help but groan at the feel of just how tight she was around his cock.

He was going even faster now but Haley still wanted more. This tingling feeling that had been a distant tremor inside of her body was building and building from deep inside of her and all she wanted was more. She dug her heels into his ass, hoping that this would encourage him to up the pace even more, which it did. By now her breathing was so erratic she was practically gasping for air and she felt Nathan's mouth continue to work her neck and she couldn't help the light moans that were falling from her mouth.

Nathan lifted his mouth from her neck and hovered above her as he continued driving into her at a completely frantic pace, changing the angle of his hips slightly, as he felt his cock brush against the top of her inner wall. He watched as her back arched into him and her eyes looked up to him, almost in wonder and he could feel her body begin to respond to his efforts.

The tremors were now developing into full blown waves and Haley could feel her body begin to tighten. She looked up into Nathan's eyes, completely taken by surprise at what was happening to her body. "Nathan?" She moaned.

"Yes gorgeous." Nathan returned breathlessly as he continued to thrust into her body, feeling her body start to shudder slightly underneath him.

Haley breathed in sharply as he hit that spot inside of her again. "I think I'm coming." She breathed before her body seemed to explode as wave after wave of pleasure ran through her body. She could hear herself softly moaning his name as her orgasm continued to rip through every single inch of her body, making her tremble and shiver involuntarily underneath him.

With two more thrusts, Nathan felt his cock twitch inside of her and he came too, her name dripping off his lips as he stilled his movements and rested his head just above her shoulder on the pillows beside her. He waited a few moments before his breathing calmed down slightly and placed a single kiss on the top of her shoulder before pulling out of her and rolling onto the bed next to her, never feeling more pleased at seeing a woman orgasm from his efforts before.

Haley couldn't believe that she had just had an orgasm like that. She continued to breathe in deeply as she started up at the ceiling from her bed. She could hear Nathan breathing just as heavily next to her and she furrowed her brow as she waited for the awkwardness to begin, because it had to come didn't it. You couldn't do something like that with your best friend and it not be awkward, could you? She desperately didn't want it things to be uncomfortable between them and with each passing second she could feel that sinking feeling grow in the pit of her stomach. She then felt Nathan lift himself up onto his elbows before he jumped out of the bed completely.

Nathan rooted around on the floor for his boxers, eventually finding them and he slipped them back onto his body. He also found his polo shirt on the floor and threw it onto the bed towards Haley. "Here." He said as he heard his top land on the bed and he then walked towards the door, placing his hand on the doorknob, ready to walk out of the room.

"Nathan…" Haley said in complete distress as she slipped his polo shirt over her head. Why the hell was he just walking out on her like this? Did he regret what they had just done? God she didn't know what the hell she would do if they had just completely ruined their friendship.

"I'm just going to get a cupcake and find Phantom of the Opera Hales; given that we didn't go and watch the show today I thought we could watch the film instead." Nathan responded, knowing exactly what she was saying his name like that for. He rolled his eyes, wondering why she thought things would be any different between them after what had just happened. "Oh and by the way, I think I earned the right to say I told you so." He teased as he turned around and leaned against the door, looking at her as she sat up in the bed facing him.

Haley shook her head at his arrogance. "Whatever Nathan, I totally faked that. I told you I was good at it." She said dismissively a grin etched over her face.

"Haley you might be good at faking it, but you certainly aren't that good at faking it. And anyway, I know when a girl is faking it, and you were doing nothing of the sort. So don't lie to me." He returned with a smile as he opened the door and walked down the corridor of the apartment into the lounge to grab a cupcake and find the DVD.

Haley giggled quietly to herself as she stood up from the bed, slipped on a new pair of panties and her shorts and then walked towards the door. She looked back at her bed, still in complete surprise that she had just not only had sex with Nathan but also at the fact that she'd had an orgasm from it too. She had just started walking down the corridor towards the lounge when she had an idea and ran back into her bedroom, flipped the light on and rooted around in her drawer until she found the notebook she had underneath the pile of clothes. She grabbed a pen from her desk and opened it up at the page entitled 'Haley's Sex List', placing a tick next to item number one. She grinned down at her list, wondering how much longer she was going to have to wait before she could tick any more of the items off it, pleased at least that the next time Brooke asked her, she could say that yes she had ticked something of it.

"Come on gorgeous, I'm about to press play." Nathan shouted with a mouth full of cupcake, the remote control in his hand pointed at the TV, wondering what was taking her so long.

Haley giggled softly to herself again, knowing from his muffled voice that he was already tucking into his cupcakes before she snapped the notebook shut and placed it back in her drawer, hidden underneath all the clothes. She hoped she wouldn't have to wait too long to tick something else off the list, but for now, she was just thankful that she still had her Nathan. She stood up straight and walked to the door, glancing back at the bed as she switched off the light and ran down the hallway to the lounge. "I'm coming." She shouted and entered the lounge to find Nathan chuckling loudly. "What?" She asked, wondering what in the hell he was finding so funny.

Nathan managed to get a hold of himself and turned to face Haley, only to find that he burst into another round of giggling. He eventually stopped long enough for him to speak. "I'm just remembering the last time you told me you were coming." He laughed.

Haley shook her head at him, instantly realising that he was referring what they had just done, and she picked up one of the pillows from the sofa and whacked him around the head with it.

"Hey! Mind the cupcake!" Nathan screamed as he tried to protect the cupcake from another one of Haley's blows.

"Say you're sorry for being an ass then." Haley said as she held the pillow out, ready to strike again. She eyed his cupcake this time, threatening to hit it instead of him, it would probably hurt him more so if she knocked the cupcake onto the floor instead of hitting him around the head with the pillow anyway.

Nathan watched her eyes zone in on the cupcake and he knew he needed to protect it. "Alright, alright. I'm sorry for being an ass." He repeated and breathed a sigh of relief when she lowered the pillow and sat down next to him.

"Just so you know, I did fake it." Haley returned to him, knowing that he wouldn't believe her but still it was worth a shot.

Nathan chuckled. "Did not."

"Did." Haley returned.

"Didn't." Nathan quipped back.

"I did!" Haley responded as she folded her arms across her chest.

"You so did not!" Nathan returned incredulously.

"Nathan?" Haley said.

"Yes gorgeous?" Nathan responded.

"Shut up and press play." Haley instructed.

Nathan grinned at her and then pressed play on the remote before wrapping his arm around Haley as he pulled her into him.

Haley settled down beside him, her head resting on his shoulder and smiled as Phantom of the Opera started to play on the TV. It wasn't as good as seeing it live, but it would do, and besides the only thing she really cared about was the fact that it seemed that having sex with Nathan hadn't changed anything at all, which she was more than a little thankful for.

**AN – Okay, so there's chapter two, and they've had sex and everything seems to be back to normal between them… but for how long?!**

**Please let me know what you thought of the chapter by dropping me a review.**

**And as with the first chapter, and the rest of my stories, I'll be offering a sneak peek for the next chapter, just let me know in your review if you want it and I'll get it out to you as soon as it's written.**

**Thanks!**


	3. Chapter 3

**AN – Once again you guys are all so amazing with all the reviews, so I want to thank each of you that left such lovely comments and I'm so pleased that you are all enjoying this story so much!**

**As always a few words to those of you without accounts that reviewed and didn't leave an email address so I couldn't respond personally – **BlueJean452 – **I'm so pleased you enjoyed the last chapter and I hope you enjoy this one too! **Judy – **Thanks so much for your lovely words about my writing, I hope you enjoy the update. **Leah – **I'm so pleased you're enjoying the story so much! I'm glad you liked the cupcake thing. You'll see the whole gang in this chapter so I hope you like the update. **~NaleyLover21~ - **I'm so pleased you're enjoying the story so far! I'm glad you're finding it funny too! I hope you like this chapter!**

**Okay... I tried to answer any questions you guys had in the review response but some I couldn't because I don't want to give too much of the plot away. I know a lot of you have questions about this list of Haley's... but all should become clear with what's going to happen between Nathan and Haley this chapter.**

**I know I said to some of you that I would be posting this chapter on Thursday night but Fanfiction went crazy on me and I couldn't log in to post it! Then the weekend was crazy with wedding planning and meeting up with friends so apologies for the lateness of this chapter!**

**As always major thanks to Rebecca, Kristen and Kelly for reading through this before I posted the chapter. You girls are all awesome and encourage me no end.**

**I hope you all enjoy the update.**

**Chapter Three**

Haley didn't know why but for some obscure reason she jolted awake at six o'clock in the morning on Wednesday, which was completely unheard of for her. She scowled at the clock on her bedside table when she saw the time, lay back down in bed and tried to go back to sleep but for some strange reason she couldn't. She huffed as she realised that she was simply wasting her time lying in bed doing nothing and so she pulled back her covers, yawned, stretched and then walked out of her bedroom in search of some food. Her stomach was rumbling furiously and it needed something inside of it.

Nathan continued pushing on the machine. The resistance was as high as it could get and he could feel the burn running through his legs but there was no way in hell that he was going to let this girly machine beat him. He'd been on the thing for half an hour already and only had fifteen minutes left to go, then he could have a nice relaxing shower before heading to work. He felt kind of traitorous using the machine after moaning at Haley ever since she had placed it in the apartment, but after he had used the machine on Saturday, he realised how useful it was having it in the home so that he could get a workout in when he had the time, like right now before work for example, and he'd used it every day since Saturday, before Haley woke up of course. And obviously, he'd never tell her that he was using it. As far as she was concerned, the machine blocked his dartboard, which was a far manlier thing to want in the apartment over an exercise bike.

Haley walked past the lounge and noticed Nathan in her peripheral vision but she continued walking sleepily towards the kitchen, only before she got any further down the corridor, she frowned, wondering if she had been seeing things or not. She wandered back down the corridor and leaned her body against the doorframe of the lounge, shaking her head at the vision that was in front of her. Nathan Scott was using her moonwalker. She burst out laughing at him right then and there and wondered to herself how long he'd been using it for; he'd always claimed that he hated the damn thing and that it took up too much space, blocking his precious dartboard.

Nathan immediately stopped moving on the machine and froze. He could hear her giggling behind him and he closed his eyes, knowing that he was going to be teased endlessly for this now. He opened his eyes again and glanced up at the clock on the wall above the sofa and noticed that it was only five minutes past six in the morning. What the hell was she doing up at this time? It was still the middle of the night to her, wasn't it?

Haley watched him stop on the machine and tense up completely, and she had to bite down on her lip in an effort to stop laughing at him. Once she had controlled her outburst, she walked into the lounge and sat down on the sofa. She looked up at Nathan who was staring at her like he'd just been caught stealing cookies from the cookie jar or something, and that look of his did nothing but make her burst into yet another round of giggling. "Nathan, don't stop on my account." She said through her laughter, gesturing at the machine, wanting to see him use it again so that she had the mental image of him on the moonwalker in her brain for the rest of the day to cheer her up while she was bored at work.

Nathan gritted his teeth together and glared at her. "Stop laughing at me Hales." He said in a low voice, laced with warning so that she knew that if she didn't stop it right this instant it would turn into a full on war.

Haley managed to get it together and stopped laughing at him as she turned on the TV and started to flick through the channels absentmindedly. She watched Nathan from the corner of her eye and saw that he had started to move on the machine and she couldn't help the fact that she was giggling at him again. After all his moaning about the thing she couldn't believe that he had been using it in secret.

Nathan pressed on, pushing hard on the machine as he glanced down at the timer on the thing, seeing the seconds ticking by and he tried his best not to look at Haley, in fact he just wanted to completely block out the fact that she was in the room with him while he was using this machine from his mind. He looked up at the TV and saw that she was channel flicking and he sighed in annoyance, why couldn't she just pick a damn channel to watch? He moved his gaze over to her and saw that her shoulders were shaking, obviously with laughter at his expense. He huffed angrily and stopped moving the machine. "Damn it Haley I told you to stop laughing at me." He panted as he leaned against the handlebars of the moonwalker.

Haley glanced over at him, seeing that he had completely stopped again and couldn't hold the laughter in anymore. "I'm sorry Nathan, it's just you look so funny on that thing!" She managed to get out and then wiped at the tears that had started to form in her eyes.

"Why do I look funny?" Nathan asked, sure that he wasn't going to like the answer that she was going to give him but he wanted to know anyway.

Haley took a deep breath, trying once again to calm herself down. "You just do. I don't know why."

"Well thanks Hales." Nathan returned, rolling his eyes at her insightful answer to his question and swayed his feet forwards and backwards.

"So how long have you secretly been using it then?" Haley asked, her eyes sparkling brightly, wanting in on the secret. "You know I can't believe all the times I've had to listen to you moan about it blocking that damn dartboard…"

"It does block my dartboard!" Nathan interrupted her, gesturing with his hand that the dartboard was indeed blocked by the damn machine she had put in the apartment.

"Well now that I know that you're using the machine I won't have to listen to your moaning about the dartboard, will I?" Haley teased him as she turned her attention back to the TV, still flicking through the channels, and she would continue to do so until she found something that looked interesting. There was never anything good on TV this early in the morning, probably because it was only weird people like Nathan that saw this ungodly hour in the first place.

"I think you will hear my moaning when I want to play darts Haley." Nathan returned as he stopped the machine completely and switched it off. There was no way he was going to continue on it if Haley was just going to sit there and laugh at him.

"Like I said then, I won't have to listen to you moan about it again then will I?" Haley grinned at the TV.

"What does that mean? When I want to play darts…" Nathan started to repeat himself, only he found that he was cut off by Haley interrupting him again.

"Like you ever actually play darts? I think I've seen you use that dartboard twice since I moved in." Haley responded as she continued channel flicking.

"Well then, that's one more time that I've seen you use this machine." Nathan snapped back as he began to walk out of the lounge.

"I have used that moonwalker more than once!" Haley shouted after him, or at least she thought she had. She hadn't used it in a while; she knew that much but the intention to use it was always there which had to count for something, didn't it?

"Yeah right Haley, sure you have." Nathan returned sarcastically as he turned around to face her. "Maybe if you used it more often you might actually be able to walk up the six flights of stairs to our apartment instead of having to take the elevator all the time. And for God's sake will you please just pick something to watch on the TV, you're driving me crazy with all your channel flicking." He finished and then turned to walk out of the room.

"Nathan Scott." Haley shouted as she jumped off the sofa and marched after him. "Are you calling me fat?"

Nathan rolled his eyes at her as he continued walking along the corridor towards the bathroom. "No Hales, I am not calling you fat, I am calling you unfit." He called out to her, not even bothering to stop and have this discussion with her. She could be so overdramatic sometimes.

"That's the same damn thing." Haley shouted after him as she continued to walk behind him along the corridor.

"No it's not Haley, there's a difference." Nathan returned, mentally slapping himself for opening this can of worms. He closed his eyes briefly and the image of his fingers trailing up her flat stomach towards the underside of her breasts flashed through his mind. He opened his eyes again and shook his head of his thoughts. How the hell could she think for even half a second that she was fat?

"There is no difference at all." Haley retorted as she folded her arms across her chest to stop herself from slapping him, not that she could reach him because he was walking too quickly for her, which had nothing to do with her being unfit, or fat, or whatever the hell he was saying she was, it was simply because his legs were longer than hers, and he'd had a head start on her too.

"Hales there is a difference between being fat and being unfit." Nathan said as he walked into the bathroom.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Haley shouted at him when she saw him walk into the bathroom and sped up her pace. "Don't you dare close that door Nathan; I've not finished talking to you yet."

Nathan shut the door and locked it. "Well I've finished talking to you and I need to shower." He shouted through the door.

Haley made it to the door and tried the handle, but he'd locked the door. She pounded on the wood with her fist in complete agitation at him. "Damn it Nathan, open this door." She roared.

Nathan sighed heavily and ran his hand through his hair, trying his best to ignore her fist banging against the door. He walked over to the shower and turned it on, stripped out of his clothes and placed them in the laundry hamper before stepping under the spray. He closed his eyes and reached down for the shampoo, still hearing Haley's fist hit the door. She never had been a morning person.

After five minutes of banging on the door, Haley gave up and sulked her way into the kitchen. She pulled out a glass from the cupboard and poured herself some water before sitting on the kitchen table, in a complete strop. She was not fat, nor was she unfit.

Ten minutes later, Nathan had finished his shower and had put his suit on. He wandered back into the bathroom and sorted out his hair and then walked into the kitchen once he was happy with it, noticing that Haley was sitting at the table with a glass of water in her hands, scowling at it and completely ignoring him. He rolled his eyes as he grabbed the loaf of bread out of the breadbin and put some slices in the toaster. He looked in the dishwasher which he had emptied before he had started his workout and noticed that there wasn't a plate in there, neither was there one in the sink. "You want some breakfast?" He asked, offering to make her some given that she hadn't seemed to have eaten anything this morning yet.

Haley gripped onto her glass of water and bought it to her lips, took a gulp and then placed it back down on the table. She started playing with the glass again, running her finger lazily around the rim of it. "Nope. According to someone I need to lose a bit of weight so I thought I'd skip breakfast." She said bitterly, still not believing that he had said what he had to her.

Nathan sighed deeply, took out another two slices of bread and placed them in the toaster alongside the ones that were already in there. He then grabbed the peanut butter from the cupboard, as well as a knife and two plates, and then waited for the bread to toast. Once the toast was done, he spread the peanut butter on each of the slices and then turned around as he sat at the table, placing one of the plates in front of Haley.

Haley pushed the plate away from herself and took another sip of her water.

"Hales come on, you need to eat something. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, in case you didn't know." Nathan said as he took a bite into one of his slices of toast and pushed the plate towards her again, watching as she completely ignored it, causing him to sigh at her behaviour again. "Hales I did not call you fat, I just called you unfit, and quite honestly, I only said it because you were taking the piss out of me for using the moonwalker thingy. There's nothing wrong with you at all, so will you please just eat something? Please, for me gorgeous?" He pleaded with her as he pushed the plate closer to her, hating the fact that he had said what he had now. He wasn't expecting her to take it the way that she did but still, he didn't ever want her thinking that she was fat and that she needed to lose any more weight than she already had done.

Haley rolled her eyes and then looked up at him, seeing the earnest expression on his face and she then looked down at the plate, which was still being pushed towards her by his hand. "Alright, I'll eat it but stop pushing that damn plate towards me before the toast ends up in my lap." She said as she picked up a slice of toast and took a bite out of it.

"Good girl." Nathan said as he smiled up at her before frowning. "You don't really think that you need to lose any weight do you gorgeous?" He asked, worried that he had made her think that she did.

Haley shrugged. "I could do with losing a few pounds I suppose."

"You can't be serious!" Nathan returned with surprise in his eyes. "There's nothing to you as it is."

Haley shrugged again as she ate her toast in silence. Everyone could always do with losing just a couple of pounds, couldn't they, unless you were some size zero model or something, which she was not and nor did she ever want to be.

Nathan watched Haley eat her toast, a pensive expression on his face. He finished eating his first slice and then picked up his second as he placed his plate in the sink. He walked over to Haley and crouched down so that he was level with her. "You do not need to lose a couple of anything gorgeous; you're perfect as you are, okay?" He said seriously, hoping that she would drop all those silly thoughts that he knew were milling around in her mind. He reached up with his free hand and brushed some of her hair behind her ear, before standing up and placing a kiss on the top of her head. "I have to go to work, but why don't we meet up for lunch today?"

"Sure." Haley replied as she smiled up at him.

"Okay, well send me an e-mail when you get into work and we'll sort something out. Have a good morning at work gorgeous and I'll see you at lunch." Nathan said as he started walking out of the kitchen, biting into his second slice of toast.

"See you later on." Haley said as she took another bite of her toast and then dropped the rest of it back down on the plate as she let out a heavy sigh.

Nathan glanced at her over his shoulder just before he walked out of the room. "Don't you even think about not finishing that toast off Hales." He called out as he continued to walk to the front door, grabbing his keys and his wallet on the way before closing the door behind him.

~*~

Haley had just walked out of the building and was running along the street towards the restaurant she was due to meet Nathan in, only she was late. She heard her phone ringing in her bag and reached in to pick it up, not bothering to look at the caller id. "Nathan, I'm on my way…" She panted into the phone as she continued to race along the street. God, she wondered whether Nathan was right and she really did need to get fitter, especially if she couldn't run down the street without getting out of breath like she was.

"That's good to know Haley but its Brooke." Brooke laughed down the phone at her friend.

"Oh, sorry Brooke, I just guessed you were Nathan. What's up?" Haley asked as she rounded the corner, seeing the restaurant she needed to be at further along the street.

"Not much, I was just wondering if you and Nathan were doing anything later." Brooke asked as she fiddled with the cord of her phone at her desk.

"Well I don't know what time Nathan's going to be working until tonight but I'm not doing anything I don't think." Haley answered as she walked through the door to the restaurant and scanned around for Nathan, smiling when she found him looking at a menu sat at a table on the left hand side of the restaurant. She walked towards him as she listened to what Brooke was saying to her.

"Okay, well we were all thinking of having a bit of a poker night tonight at our place. Jake and Peyton are in, so I was just wondering if you and Nathan wanted to come over too." Brooke said excitedly.

"Wait a second Brooke, I'm just with Nathan now, let me ask him." Haley replied down the phone to Brooke and then looked over at Nathan who had furrowed his brow at her, obviously wondering what she had to ask him. "Brooke and Lucas want to do a poker night tonight and wanted to know if you could make it." Haley said as she sat down in her seat and pushed her bag underneath the table, taking a deep breath as she tried to calm her racing heart down.

"What time?" Nathan asked as he pulled out his blackberry and opened up his calendar, mentally groaning at how busy his afternoon was. He didn't really have time for lunch with Haley today but he wanted to make sure that she was eating something sensible after her comment to him this morning. She had him worrying about her again.

"He says what time?" Haley asked Brooke as she flipped open her menu and started scanning her way through the items listed there.

"Erm, about eightish?" Brooke responded.

"Eight." Haley said to Nathan as she continued looking at the menu, wondering what the hell to order.

"Okay, I can make it." Nathan said as he closed his calendar and placed his blackberry back in his inside pocket, before returning his gaze back down to the menu.

"We'll both be there." Haley said to Brooke.

"Perfect." Brooke said with a little squeal. "Tell Nathan I'm going to kick his ass again."

"Alright I will do." Haley giggled. "See you later." She said and then hung up her phone, picking her bag up off the floor and dropping it inside. "Brooke says she's going to 'kick your ass again'." She said to Nathan as she picked up her menu and ran through the choices again given that she hadn't really absorbed what was on offer while she had been on the phone to Brooke.

Nathan scoffed at her as he placed his menu down, having chosen what he wanted to order. "She's beaten me once and forgets to remember that the other two hundred times, or however many times we have played poker, I have beaten her."

Haley rolled her eyes. "Well I'm just the messenger; you can battle it out with her tonight."

"Damn straight I will too, the only ass that's going to be kicked tonight is hers." Nathan returned, before chuckling as Haley rolled her eyes at him yet again. "So what are you ordering?"

"Erm…" Haley muttered as she continued to look down the list of food, not really sure what she wanted. She looked around at the tables and spotted a nice looking salad to the right of where they were sitting. She then glanced back down at the menu. "The salads look good…"

Nathan raised his eyebrows at her. "You're not having a salad Hales."

Haley lifted her gaze up to Nathan from where she had been looking at the salads on the menu. "What? You can't tell me what I can and can't have Nathan!"

"Yes I can Hales, especially when I'm paying. Have something proper to eat." Nathan said as he looked down at his menu. "Why not have a steak or something?"

"Because I don't want a flipping steak Nathan." Haley returned and glared at him. What was to him what she ordered? A salad was a perfectly acceptable menu item to order, wasn't it? Otherwise why the hell was it on the damn menu in the first place?

"Are you ready to order?" The waiter asked as he stopped at their table and held his electronic ordering device in his hands, waiting to tap in what they told him they wanted.

Nathan held Haley's stare. "Can we get a bottle of still water, one barbecued chicken and one steak, medium rare."

Haley's mouth dropped open as she heard Nathan order for her. She glowered at him even more and then turned to the waiter. "Sorry, can you swap the steak for a Caesar salad please."

Nathan furrowed his brow as Haley changed her order and then handed both of the menus to the waiter and he watched as the waiter quickly walked away, preventing him from changing her order again.

"Nathan what the hell do you think you're you doing? I said I didn't want a steak." Haley hissed at him.

"Did you eat all your toast this morning?" Nathan asked, the concern for Haley's eating habits was building up inside of him and he wanted to make sure that she had eaten it all, especially as she was only having a salad for lunch now it seemed. He'd give her some of his chicken to eat as well; he didn't want her starving herself for no good reason.

Haley widened her eyes. "Yes I ate all the damn toast, what the hell has gotten into you?"

"Are you sure Hales because I will check the trash when I get in to make sure that you didn't throw it away?" Nathan threatened as his eyes searched her face for any hint that she was lying to him about this.

"Oh my God! Are you serious?" Haley asked and then rolled her eyes when Nathan nodded at her. "Nathan I ate all of the toast, even the crust, but if you want to root around in the trash can then be my guest." Haley huffed at him as she crossed her arms and leaned them on the table, smiling sweetly at the waiter who had just brought their water over and then snapped the glass off the table angrily as soon as the waiter had left their table.

Nathan sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. "Why did you order a salad then?" He asked. No one ate salad if they had the choice to eat something more delicious, did they? Salad was like eating grass, and as far as he was concerned you only ate it when you were on a diet, which was something that Haley really didn't need at all, if anything, according to him, she could do with putting on a bit of weight so that she'd get back to what she was like before.

"Because I want a salad, why else do you think I ordered it Nathan?" Haley asked, completely exasperated with his behaviour.

Nathan picked up his glass of water and took a sip of it before he placed it back down on the table. "You're not ordering a salad because of what you think I said to you this morning, are you?" He asked as he looked up at Haley.

"Oh you mean when you called me fat?" Haley returned seriously.

"I so did not call you fat gorgeous, please don't think that I said that." Nathan pleaded with her. "And you're not unfit either, so please just forget that I said that too, I wasn't thinking straight."

Haley grinned at him. "I'm just messing with you Nathan. I know you didn't call me fat and I'm sorry for sulking this morning. I was just tired I guess."

Nathan smiled back at her. "Well it was still the middle of the night for you; I don't think you've ever seen six o'clock in the morning before, have you?"

Haley kicked his leg with her foot underneath the table. "Stop being so cheeky you." She reprimanded him as he chuckled at her.

"Ouch Hales, that hurt." Nathan whined as he rubbed his leg with his hand where she had just kicked him.

"No it didn't I barely touched you, stop being such a child." Haley returned as she took another sip of her water.

"So how's work been this morning?" Nathan asked, changing the subject now that he was satisfied that Haley didn't think that she need to go on a diet.

"Uneventful, boring, the usual." Haley returned.

"I don't know why you do that job gorgeous if you don't like it." Nathan returned, wishing that Haley would do what he really knew she wanted to do instead of float from job to job like she was doing. She was so unfocussed on her career, the total opposite to how he was and it bothered him that she didn't love what she did.

Haley shrugged. "The pay is pretty decent."

"But you hate it." Nathan returned with knowing eyes.

Haley frowned at him. "I wouldn't say I hated it Nathan. I just don't feel the same way about work as you do. That doesn't mean that I hate it." She clarified.

"Well why don't you give it up and concentrate on what I know you really want to do?" Nathan pressed, knowing that Haley hadn't done anything about her big dream yet, but wasn't it time for her to start at least thinking about it?

Haley sighed before glaring at Nathan. "Stop it." She said as she picked up the water bottle and poured some more into her glass.

"Why are you so against trying to do it gorgeous? I know you'll be amazing at it…" Nathan started only to find that he was interrupted by Haley.

"Nathan I said stop it, I don't want to think about it because it's just not an option for me at the moment, so please can you just drop the subject." Haley said, feeling incredibly relieved that the waiter had chosen this moment to deliver their food.

Nathan sighed heavily as he watched Haley tuck into her leaves and grass or whatever the hell was in front of her and then started to cut into his chicken. He placed some of the meat in his mouth and watched Haley eat her salad, wondering why she didn't have any faith in herself, wishing somehow that the faith he had in her abilities was enough for the both of them. He really wished that she believed in herself a little bit more.

~*~

Haley had finally finished typing out the essay of a letter she needed to finish at seven o'clock in the evening. She printed it off and placed it on her boss' desk and then shut down her computer. Five minutes later, she found herself beginning the walk home to the apartment she shared with Nathan. She looked around at all the buildings she was passing as she walked and she realised that she had been walking past a gym that she hadn't even noticed was there for the last three months. She thought back to her conversation with Nathan that morning, as well as how out of breath she had been at running what had to be only two hundred metres or so, before checking to see if she had enough time. She furrowed her brow and decided that she had enough time to duck inside and gather a bit of information. She walked through the automatic doors and continued towards the information desk, and saw a young girl smile at her widely and Haley smiled back in return.

"Hi, can I help you with anything?" The girl asked once Haley had made it all the way inside to the information desk.

"I just came in to pick up a bit of information, that's all." Haley responded and waited for the girl to hand over a load of leaflets to her.

"Okay, well if you just take a seat over in the corner I'll see if someone's free to talk you through what we can offer you here and also show you around." The girl smiled again and pointed towards some seats in the right hand corner of the reception area.

"Oh honestly, I can just make do with some leaflets for now." Haley returned and then looked down at her watch. "I haven't really got the time to look around and all that stuff."

"Well it will only take half an hour or so and that way you'll get a better picture of what equipment and activities we have here." The girl said and then disappeared into the room behind the desk.

Haley furrowed her brow as she watched the girl go into the room and then walked over to the chairs she had gestured to, taking a seat. She pulled her phone out of her bag and sent Nathan a quick text, telling him that she would meet him at Lucas and Brooke's as she was running late. She knew that these things never took just half an hour. In fact, she was sure that in an hours plus time, she'd be signed up and raring to go. That was how these places worked, wasn't it?

She flicked through one of the magazines that were on the table, finding nothing in it that interested her in the slightest, it was one of those ridiculous health magazines, encouraging her to eat dry crisp bread and raisins and stuff. She turned her nose up at it and then jumped when she heard someone chuckle above her. She glanced up and saw a man hovering above her and quickly shut the magazine and threw it down on the table again.

"Don't worry; I don't really like raisins either."

Haley lifted her gaze to the man standing above her and watched as he took a seat in the chair opposite her. Her eyes flicked over his face, he had brown hair, warm brown eyes and a killer smile, one that she couldn't help but return to him. She noticed that he was quite tanned and had a clipboard in his hands.

"Alright, so I'm Ryan, and you are?" Ryan asked as he smiled warmly over at the woman who was sitting opposite him. She was cute, he noticed, she had dark wavy hair that went just past her shoulders and was dressed in a fitted black shirt, a pair of grey trousers and some black high heeled shoes. She didn't look like she was here to lose any weight, maybe just tone up in a few places or something.

Haley cleared her throat. "Haley." She answered him.

"Okay, so what are you here for Haley?" Ryan asked as he put his clipboard down on the coffee table and leaned his elbows on his legs, resting his chin in his hands as he waited for her to tell him what she wanted to get out of joining the gym.

Haley laced her fingers together and placed them in her lap, her eyes watching what her fingers were doing as she started to fiddle with them. "Well, erm, I don't really know to be honest." She said sheepishly as she looked up at Ryan from underneath her eyelashes.

Ryan grinned at her. "Okay, well do you want to take a look around? I can show you what equipment we have here and explain a bit about what we have to offer and then you can think about whether you'd like to join or not?" He offered as he stood up.

"Sure." Haley returned as she stood up, placed her bag on her shoulder and then followed Ryan through the barriers and up the stairs.

Once they had reached the top of the stairs, Ryan took a left and opened the door to the main gym area. "So this is the main gym." He said as he held open the door for Haley to walk inside. "There is a smaller gym across the hall which is quieter but has fewer machines in it." He explained.

"Wow it's huge!" Haley said, stunned at how big it was. From the outside the place looked absolutely tiny but there were rows and rows of all different kinds of equipment taking up most of this vast space. "God I don't even think I'd know what to do with most of these machines."

"Well that's what your induction session is for." Ryan said as he smiled down at Haley, who was looking like she had just walked into another world or something. "Have you been a member of a gym before?" He asked.

Haley shook her head, before realising that she must be looking like a complete idiot given that she was shaking her head and staring in awe at what was in front of her. She cleared her throat again and turned to face Ryan. "No, I've never set foot inside a gym, except the one at high school. My best friend used to play basketball and he'd always lock himself away in the gym, if I ever lost him I'd know exactly where to find him." She said, stopping herself abruptly when she realised that she was rambling. She looked up to Ryan and saw that he was smiling at her. "Sorry, I tend to ramble. A lot."

Ryan didn't say anything; he just chuckled at her and led the way down the side of the gym, pointing out what all of the different machines did briefly so that she got a bit of a better idea about what they could do for her body. Once he had finished explaining them to Haley he leaned against one of the steppers and turned to face her. "So you've never used any kind of fitness machine before?" He asked.

"Well I have a moonwalk… sorry, cross trainer," Haley corrected herself now that she knew what the real name for the machine in her living room was, "at home but I honestly haven't used it in a while." She admitted.

"So what's the reason for you walking in here today then?" Ryan asked, interested to know what her motivation for coming inside was.

"I don't know, I guess I just want to tone up." Haley returned lamely, not wanting to admit that she had gotten out of breath after running such a short distance earlier on today.

"Okay, sounds good. Would you be interested in any racquet sports?" Ryan asked.

Haley's eyes widened and she shook her head vigorously.

Ryan chuckled. "What not even some tennis? Squash maybe?" He asked.

"God no, the last time I played squash I nearly broke my best friend's nose, with my racquet." Haley cringed. Nathan had made her vow never to pick up a racquet ever again after that incident and she had wholeheartedly agreed with him.

Ryan raised his eyebrow and laughed at her. "Really?" He asked, wondering how in the hell she had managed to do that.

"Really." Haley confirmed and shook her head at the memory almost wincing when she remembered how angry Nathan had been at her.

"Well why don't I show you the swimming pool and the spa area, I'm sure you can't do any damage in there." Ryan teased as he started walking them back through the gym towards the pool.

"You'd be surprised." Haley mumbled as she followed Ryan in what she presumed was the direction of the swimming pool.

Forty-five minutes later, Haley found herself sitting in back in the reception area discussing membership options with Ryan. She looked down at the leaflets he had given her and contemplated the one she wanted to go with.

"Okay Haley, how about this, if you sign up for the full year membership for the gym and pool only, no racquet sports because I wouldn't want you injuring anyone or anything," he grinned at her before continuing, "and I'll give you three months instead of two off the price."

Haley shook her head at him before looking up at him from where she was currently glancing over the brochures. "I bet you say that to all the girls." She said with a smile.

Ryan raised his eyebrow at her. "I don't actually, only the pretty ones." He said and smiled as Haley laughed at him.

"I bet you use that line too." Haley returned and then sighed. "Alright, let's do it."

"Excellent." Ryan said as he pulled out the application pack and got Haley to start filling it in. "So when do you want to come in for your induction session?" He asked.

"My what?" Haley returned, wondering what he was going on about.

"Your induction session. It's where we run through how to use the machines, show you how to use them, come up with some fitness programs with you, that kind of thing. You can't use the gym until you've had one." Ryan explained.

"Oh." Haley returned. "Erm, well I don't think I have anything on Sunday?" She said as she mentally flipped through her calendar in her head. She didn't have anything on during Saturday either but she needed to get herself some gym clothes before she started using the gym as she had no suitable clothes whatsoever in her wardrobe currently.

Ryan grabbed the calendar from the front desk and flipped through it as he walked back towards her. "I'm free at four?" He asked.

"Okay, four sounds good." Haley returned and then placed her pen down as she handed the application form back to Ryan and pulled out her card from her purse, handing it to him as well so she could pay for her membership.

Ten minutes later Haley stood outside her new gym and glanced down at her watch, swearing when she saw that she should have been at Brooke and Lucas' fifteen minutes ago. She hailed a cab, hoping that the traffic would have died down enough by now to make taking a cab quicker than walking would be.

~*~

Ten minutes later, Haley walked up the stairs to Brooke and Lucas' apartment. The door was already open from when she had been buzzed in the front door and so she walked inside and headed straight for the lounge, finding Brooke, Lucas and Nathan sat around the dining room table with beers in their hands. "Sorry I'm late guys." Haley said as she took off her coat and then sat down opposite Nathan and next to Brooke.

"What happened?" Nathan asked, wondering what had caused her to run so late tonight.

"Oh, I had to work late." Haley responded and made sure that she didn't look at Nathan as she lied, because he would be able to see right through it. She didn't know why she didn't just tell him that she had joined a gym, but she knew that if she did he would probably be in a mood all night, especially judging from how weird he had acted this morning and at lunchtime over her eating habits. She decided to quickly change the subject as she turned to Brooke. "So where are Peyton and Jake?" Haley asked.

"I have no idea." Brooke said as she shrugged her shoulders, already shuffling the cards in front of her. She desperately wanted to get on with playing poker, and beating Nathan's ass in the process.

"Let me give them a call." Lucas said as he pulled his phone from out of his pocket and dialled Jake's number.

"So you had a good rest of the day at work gorgeous?" Nathan asked as he caught Haley's attention.

Haley nodded her head. "It wasn't too bad, how about you?" She asked.

"It was good actually." Nathan responded and smiled over at his best friend.

"They say they're just turning the corner and should be here in a second." Lucas said.

"About time." Nathan said as he placed his beer bottle down on the table and rubbed his hands together in anticipation of yet again becoming a little richer at his friends expense, before grabbing the chips and beginning to divide them into six equal piles.

Five minutes later, Brooke buzzed Peyton and Jake inside the apartment and left the door open for them to let themselves in.

"Hey guys, sorry we're so late." Peyton giggled as she wiggled out of Jake's grasp and sat herself down in one of the empty seats next to Lucas and Brooke while Jake took the other in between Haley and Nathan.

"Whatever, you're here now." Brooke said as she shuffled the cards one last time. "So how are we playing? Twenty dollars each in the middle?" Brooke suggested.

Everyone agreed and placed their money in the middle of the table as Brooke started to deal the cards.

Haley was losing and Nathan was winning which wasn't unusual. She folded yet again, having nothing but rubbish in her hands and watched as the rest of them continued to battle it out, Nathan raising the bet every time. Haley giggled as Brooke folded in annoyance that the bet was obviously too high for her to risk it and then it was just Lucas, Jake and Nathan playing this round, Peyton having folded soon after Haley had.

"Peyton, why the hell do you have a leaf in your hair?" Brooke asked as she leaned her chin in her hands while frowning at Peyton's hair.

Nathan raised his eyebrows as Peyton giggled and then concentrated back on the game.

"Do I?" Peyton asked and then her cheeks flushed red as she looked slyly over at Jake who was grinned wildly back at her.

Haley looked in between Peyton and Jake, wondering what secret they were trying to keep.

Brooke looked expectantly between Peyton and Jake also, wanting in on their little secret.

"We were late because we took a little detour on the way over here." Jake shrugged as he met Lucas' bet, throwing his chips down onto the table.

Brooke immediately gasped. "You didn't!"

Peyton giggled. "We did."

Nathan rolled his eyes and raised the bet, glancing up at Haley quickly, who was still looking between Peyton and Jake, trying to work out what the hell they were going on about. He couldn't help but chuckle at her innocence, or think about that list of hers again. What number was it again? Thirteen if he remembered correctly.

"Where?" Brooke asked excitedly.

"The park a couple of blocks away." Peyton revealed.

"Oh Lucas and I have done it there too, haven't we baby?" Brooke said as she kicked Lucas' leg under the table lightly.

"Yep." Lucas responded as he met Nathan's raised bet.

Suddenly, what they were talking about clicked with Haley and she immediately went red. She glanced over at Nathan and he smirked at her as he realised that she had finally got the fact that they were discussing having sex in public.

"What about you Nathan, have you had sex in a park before? What about you Haley?" Brooke asked as she turned to them both expectedly.

Haley immediately furrowed her brow as she thought about her fantasy list. She found herself getting a little bit flustered and didn't want to be around to answer the question, because she knew in all likelihood that Nathan had probably done it in a park too and then once again, she would be the only one not to have done something daring and exciting. She was always the good little girl, the innocent one and she'd had enough of it. She immediately stood up from the table, wanting to get herself away from this embarrassing discussion. "I'm just going to get another round of beers from the kitchen." She said and then walked quickly out of the room.

Nathan sighed and watched as Haley all but ran out of the room, knowing exactly what was wrong with her. "I'm just going to help her carry them." He said as he carried his two cards with him so that Lucas and Jake couldn't cheat and sneak a peek at them while he was out of the room. He contemplated taking all of his chips with him but quickly decided that would be going just a little bit too far and therefore chose to just leave them where they were, even if it was a little bit risky for him to do so. "Don't you dare touch my chips." He warned both of them before he followed Haley out of the room.

Haley stood by the sink in the kitchen and stared distractedly out of the window with her arms wrapped securely around herself. She moved her gaze from the window and looked down at the sink, not concentrating on what she was looking at as she was worrying about whether she would ever have anything like that to share with her friends. Sex with Chase had been very normal. It was never exciting, never spontaneous and had always been performed in a bed. However, given that she had never climaxed with him either, and now knew that she could, all thanks to Nathan, she realised that even if she had done something exciting, like had sex in a public place, with him it probably wouldn't have been so enjoyable for her, but still, at least she would have been able to say that she had done it, at least she would have something exciting to share with her friends.

Nathan sighed when he walked into the kitchen and found Haley standing by the sink. He frowned as he took in her posture, her hands were wrapped protectively around herself and her head was lowered and she just looked completely defeated by it all. "Number thirteen?" He asked as he walked further into the room and stopped when he was behind her, placing one of his hands on her arm; beginning to run it up and down in what he hoped was a soothing manner.

Haley let out a long breath when she felt Nathan's hand on her arm and she closed her eyes for a moment, willing the insecurities and doubts to be wiped away with his touch, and although having him here with her helped, she knew that he wasn't going to be able to heal her with some soothing gestures. She opened her eyes, deciding that she didn't want to drone on about it to him and so swiftly tried to change the subject, and the mood of the room. "I thought you weren't going to mention that list ever again?" She teased, knowing that he would know what she was obviously doing, burying her anxiety yet again, but she hoped, like most times, that he would take the hint and allow her to.

Nathan furrowed his brow when he heard Haley try to divert his attention from the fact that she was obviously upset about something. He had thought after showing her that she could indeed climax from sex that she would become more confident, and granted, it had only been a couple of days since they'd had sex but still, he didn't understand why she was still feeling so insecure about it all. He wrapped his other hand around her waist and twisted her around so that she was now facing him. He looked into her eyes and could see that she was trying to avoid his gaze. "Look at me, please gorgeous?" He asked her softly.

Haley slowly lifted her gaze to Nathan and could see instantly that he wasn't going to let her get away with not talking about this. But she couldn't talk to him, not when they were in their friend's kitchen of their apartment where there was a poker game going on and anyone could walk in on their discussion. She would be absolutely mortified if anyone overheard her. "Nathan can we not do this here?" She pleaded with him as she looked him in the eyes.

Nathan smiled softly at her, knowing that this was not the right environment for them to be having one of their discussions but he also knew that he wouldn't be able to concentrate on poker now, not when Haley was so obviously upset about something. "What's wrong gorgeous?" He asked, his voice full of sincerity and hope that she would at least let him know what was troubling her.

"It's nothing Nathan, honestly." Haley responded and then faked a smile up at him while she unwrapped her arms from around herself and leaned her hands back against the sink.

"Come on Nathan, it's your turn to bet." Lucas shouted from the table, getting impatient that he was taking so long to help Haley carry the beers. He had some good cards in his hand this round and could already feel his pile of chips growing.

Nathan furrowed his brow. He had a slight idea about what was wrong with Haley but he desperately wanted her to just come out and tell him, or rather confirm it for him. "Hales, why don't you just tell me what's wrong and we can save all the bantering you know is going to happen later on if you don't tell me right now? You'll save both of us a lot of worry and a lot of time." He suggested as he moved away from her and grabbed six bottles of beer from the fridge.

"Because Nathan, there's nothing wrong." Haley returned. She knew he wouldn't buy it but it was worth a shot, and besides, she knew that she was just being silly and she didn't want to load another one of her insecurities on him, he'd done more than enough for her already. "Go on; go back to your poker game." She continued as she picked up three of the beers, only to have them snapped out of her grasp by Nathan.

"Wait here." Nathan commanded as he picked up the beer bottles and walked into the lounge. "Guys, Hales isn't feeling too good so we're going to call it a night." He said as he placed the beers on the table and placed his cards down too, forfeiting the game.

"You're leaving?" Lucas asked, unable to hide the distress in his voice. He had a really good feeling about this round and could feel his luck turning but if his brother was going to forfeit the whole game, well then he wouldn't be able to say that he had beaten him properly, would he, which defeated the whole point of having bragging rights, because he already knew there was no way that Jake was ever going to win, he was on the verge of losing right now. His only competition was Nathan and he really wanted to beat him.

"Sorry Luke." Nathan said unapologetically as he then picked up his and Haley's coats and walked to the kitchen, finding Haley standing there with a raised eyebrow and her hand on her hip, silently asking him what the hell he was doing. He just shrugged at her and threw her coat at her. If she wasn't going to tell him what was wrong here then they were going to go home so that she could tell him there.

Brooke immediately came rushing to the hallway and stood in the doorway of the kitchen. "What's wrong Haley?" She asked as she stood next to Nathan.

Haley glared at Nathan, wondering why he could never drop anything where she was concerned. "I've just got this pain." _In my arse, goes by the name of Nathan Scott. _She added silently to herself and watched as Nathan chuckled quietly to himself, like he had heard every word. She rolled her eyes at him and put her coat on.

"Where's the pain?" Brooke asked as she ran her eyes over Haley, wondering what was wrong with her.

"Her head." Nathan responded. "Come on Hales, let's get you home." He continued as he grabbed onto her hand once she had put her coat on and started to drag her out of the apartment.

"Well I have some paracetamol if you want it?" Brooke offered as she followed Nathan and Haley down the hall towards the door.

"She'll be fine; she just needs to lie down." Nathan threw over his shoulder as he opened the door. "Thanks for a great evening guys." He shouted to the apartment so the rest of the gang could hear him and then climbed down the stairs towards the front door to the building.

"Bye Haley, hope you feel better." Brooke said as she leaned against the doorframe and watched as Nathan dragged her down the stairs, completely puzzled by what had just happened; sure that Haley hadn't really got a headache and that something else was wrong entirely. But where Nathan and Haley were concerned, she knew that it was often best not to even ask.

~*~

Haley slammed the door shut to the taxi, stalked her way into the building and pressed the button to call the elevator. She looked up and saw that it was somewhere towards the top of the building and wasn't moving at all. It was then that she noticed the 'Out Of Service' notice that was stuck on the door and she huffed in frustration. They weren't serious were they? She was actually going to have to walk up the stairs?

She looked up at the stairs and then glared at Nathan who had stepped out of the cab and was now paying the driver. She could walk up six flights of stairs without getting out of breath, couldn't she? She thought about his earlier words to her this morning about her being unfit and scoffed. She'd show him. She scowled as she watched Nathan begin to walk towards the front door and she started her ascent.

Nathan raised his eyebrow when he saw Haley start to walk up the stairs and chuckled to himself as he walked inside the building. He shook his head at her as he saw her reach the first floor and then he started to walk up the stairs after her. She hadn't said a word to him in the cab and he knew that she was slightly pissed off that he had cut their evening short, but there was absolutely no point of them staying there when they'd both be worrying. Haley would spend the entire evening wallowing in silence because of something that had been said and some silly insecurity she had, and he would spend the whole night just worrying because she was worrying. He honestly thought it was the best option for them both if they just left then and there rather than drag out the whole night.

Haley looked up and saw that she was only on the second floor and she was panting like she had just run a marathon or something, surely six flights of stairs had passed her already? She took a deep breath, which honestly felt more painful than not breathing would have been right now as she glanced down the centre of the stairway and saw Nathan's hand on the railing, and it seemed that he had already passed the first floor. "Damn it!" Haley muttered under her breath as she continued to try to run up the stairs, only her legs were burning so painfully now. All she wanted to do was curl up in a ball on the floor, she really was pathetic, she wasn't even halfway towards the third floor yet, and she still had three and a half flights of stairs to go before she made it to the apartment. And the damn heels she was wearing were not helping matters either.

Nathan walked up the stairs after her, passing the second floor and beginning his ascent to the third. He glanced up and could see Haley's hand clinging onto the railing not too far from where he was now. He chuckled quietly to himself, knowing that he'd catch up with her sooner or later.

Haley could hear his footsteps behind her now. She breathed in deeply as she made it to the third floor, and she knew that she wouldn't be able to make it to the next floor without having a little bit of a rest first. Her legs felt like they were on fire and she cursed herself for not using that stupid moonwalker, or cross trainer, or whatever the hell it was called a little more, maybe if she had, like Nathan had insinuated earlier on today, then she'd be able to do this more effectively and without feeling like she was going to die at any given moment. She leaned against the railings as she heard Nathan approach from behind her. "Don't you…" She started and then took a deep breath. "Even think about saying it." She gasped, knowing that he would want to take the piss out of her for this.

"I wasn't going to say anything." Nathan returned with a smirk as he walked past her and began walking up the next flight of stairs towards the fourth floor. He grinned to himself and started a countdown in his head. _Five, four, three, two…_

Haley rolled her eyes as she watched Nathan saunter past her like he had just been on a two week vacation or something. Damn him for being so fit. And damn him for being right about her getting out of breath and being so unfit. She mentally made a note to tell Ryan at her gym induction that she wanted to improve her stamina and endurance. She would be able to make it up these damn stairs without stopping if it killed her at some point in her life. She watched as he started walking up the next flight of stairs and she sighed, hating herself for what she was about to do, but she really couldn't walk any further. "Nathan." She whined as she let out a long breath.

_One. Bingo. _Nathan thought to himself and smiled at himself for being right, but then again, where Haley was concerned, when was he ever wrong? "Yes gorgeous?" He said as he neared the fourth floor.

"I can't go any further." Haley sighed, admitting defeat. It was pointless her not doing so. Her legs felt like they were going to give way at any given second.

Nathan chuckled and began to walk down the stairs back to the third floor. "Are you going to tell me what got you so upset back at Lucas and Brooke's?" He asked.

Haley rolled her eyes as she heard his footsteps begin to get closer to her. She knew that it was his turn to bargain with her. She'd managed to get her notebook back from him by withholding cupcakes, and it seemed Nathan was going to get her to open up to him by withholding a piggyback up the stairs. Was it worth trying to get the ride without offering him anything in return? Of course. "I told you it was nothing." She returned.

"You're lying to me Hales." Nathan called back to her as he continued walking down the stairs, eventually seeing her back on the third floor and then he sat himself down on the third step from the bottom, stretching his long legs out in front of him. "And if you don't want to tell me then I'll tell you what I think is the problem."

Haley glared at him. She closed her eyes briefly, really not wanting to have to admit how stupid she was being, but she really couldn't help it. When the hell was she going to be able to experience sex that was fun and surprising, when the hell was anyone going to take her on a detour when she was on the way to her friend's house to play poker just so they could have sex in a park or something? It was on her fantasy list, sex in a public place, it was number thirteen, exactly as Nathan had said back in Brooke and Lucas' kitchen, but it felt like it was going to remain on her fantasy list for the rest of her life, instead of be crossed off.

Nathan watched Haley for a couple of seconds before realising that she wasn't going to speak, and so he decided to speak for her. "Okay. I think you're wondering about that list of yours. You're wondering when you're going to be able to knock a few, if not all, of the items listed on it off it, and you're also wondering why all your friends have done number thirteen, and you haven't?" He said and watched as Haley's grip on the railing got tighter and tighter with every single one of his words, and yet again, he knew that he had hit the nail on the head.

Haley sighed, keeping her eyes closed. "How do you do that? How do you always know exactly what I'm thinking?" She asked quietly as she bit down on her lip.

Nathan chuckled at her as he stood up from where he was currently seated on the stairs. "It's my job to know what you're thinking gorgeous, as your best friend I have to. You can do it too, why don't you try it right now. What do you think I'm thinking about right this very second?" He asked as he started to walk towards her.

Haley furrowed her brow. "I think you are thinking about how stupid your best friend is. You think she is insecure and needs to grow the hell up and stop acting like a child all the time." She returned.

Nathan frowned at her words, grabbed a hold of her waist, twisted her around so that she was now facing him and then looked into her eyes. "I would never think you're stupid." He said softly as he lifted his hand and tucked some of her hair behind her ear. "And I don't think you're insecure at all, I just wish you would have a little more self confidence and belief in yourself. You've got so much to offer gorgeous; I just wish you would see that." His eyes roamed over her face before he settled his gaze on hers and he watched as her eyes filled with tears. He chuckled softly at her and pulled her in close to him, wrapping his arms around her waist as he did so.

"I'm sorry I'm so silly. It's just that everyone else seems to have these exciting sex stories to share and all I've got is, I've done it on a bed and never came." Haley returned softly, before she felt Nathan pull away from her and raise his eyebrow at her.

"Excuse me?" Nathan said, a smirk covering his face as he held Haley a little bit away from him, just so that she could see his face.

Haley rolled her eyes at him. "Alright fine, I can say I've done it on a bed more than a few times and had an orgasm once, courtesy of my best friend." She corrected herself. "I mean how pathetic does that sound?"

"You're only twenty-five gorgeous, it's not like your sixty or whatever, you've got plenty of time to work your way through that list of yours." Nathan returned as he ran his hands down her back and settled them on her hips.

Haley scoffed. "Well you've seen how embarrassed I get talking to you about this stuff, how the hell am I ever going to be able to bring it up with a boyfriend Nathan?" She moaned as she lifted her foot off the ground and stepped out of her shoe, then lifted up her left foot so she could do the same with the that shoe.

Nathan chuckled lightly at her as he watched her lower herself down to the ground to pick up her shoes. As she came back up to him, he wrapped his arms around her back and lifted her off the floor, feeling her legs wrap around his waist automatically. He stopped chuckling when he realised that he was imagining Saturday night again, when she had wrapped her legs around him right before he had turned them around to the bed before they'd had sex. All he could feel was Haley's naked back underneath his fingertips and as he leaned into her, he had the sudden urge to place a kiss on her neck. He shook his head quickly and then snapped himself back to the situation at hand, although he found that he had completely forgotten what the hell he had been doing, all he knew was that he was standing in the middle of the stairway of his apartment building with Haley's legs wrapped around his waist and that his hands were dangerously close to her ass.

Haley felt Nathan hesitate and wondered what the hell he was doing. "Come on Nathan, aren't you going to carry me up the stairs?" She asked as she dug her ankles into his lower back quickly, trying to get him to move and start walking up the stairs.

Nathan almost opened his mouth to say thank you to Haley for reminding him of what he was doing. He shook his head at himself and tightened his grip on her back as he turned towards the stairs and heard Haley gasp.

Haley's closed her eyes tightly as she gasped; she was desperately trying to get rid of the image that had flashed through her mind. She could feel him; her legs wrapped around his naked body, her naked stomach pressed up against his toned chest as he turned them around and lay her gently down on the bed.

"Are you okay gorgeous?" Nathan asked as he bent his head back slightly so he could look at her just before he started to ascend the stairs.

Haley snapped herself out of her thoughts and smiled back down at Nathan. "Yeah I'm fine." She replied distractedly. What the hell was that? Why the hell was she remembering that?

Nathan smiled back at her and began to walk them both up the stairs towards their apartment. He couldn't help but replay what Haley had said to him just before he had picked her up off the floor. He knew how embarrassing it was for her to talk about sex. The fact that he had managed to get her to open up as much as he had over the past couple of days was nothing short of a small miracle and if she'd had the confidence to come to him while she had been with Chase, then maybe he would have been able to quash her insecurities about not being able to climax from sex and then maybe she wouldn't have beaten herself up about it for all that time, not that he would have been able to show her, but he would have at least been able to talk to her about it. He sighed softly as he tried to push the crazy thought he had right out of his head as he climbed past the fourth and the fifth floors.

Haley could tell that something was bothering Nathan, but she didn't want to ask him when he was carrying her up the stairs and risk him dropping her or hurting both of them. She couldn't believe that he could manage to carry her up three flights of stairs and not get out of breath but somehow he managed it. She heard him sigh heavily as he walked them along the corridor towards their door. She raised an eyebrow at him as she pulled herself away from him. "You're not out of breath are you?" She asked teasingly.

Nathan rolled his eyes at her. "No Hales, I'm not out of breath." He returned before frowning as the thought once again made itself known in his head.

"Nathan what is it?" Haley asked softly as she felt him stop by their door.

Nathan reached into his pocket and pulled out his key, placing it in the lock and then walked through into the apartment with Haley still wrapped around him. He closed the door once they were inside and then leaned his back against it. He felt Haley pull away from him slightly and he looked into her big brown eyes. He couldn't believe what he was about to say and but he wanted to ask to see what her reaction would be. "Why don't we do it?" He said quickly, before he lost his nerve.

Haley raised her eyebrow at him. "I think we kind of already did do it Nathan." She replied in a whisper and then burst into a fit of giggles as she released her grip on his waist, only she was held in place by Nathan's hands which were still wrapped around her body so she didn't drop to the floor.

Nathan rolled his eyes at her. "I mean the list Hales, why don't we do the list?" He said, and watched her face intently for her reaction.

Haley's mouth fell open in complete surprise. "What the hell are you on about Nathan?" She asked in a confused tone. This week had to be the weirdest week on record for them both. Not only had Nathan offered her sex, but she'd accepted it and they'd done it, which was strange enough. But now, he was offering to act out all her sexual fantasies and wishes with her, at least that's what she thought he was doing?

"Your list in that notebook of yours, why don't we do it?" Nathan asked as he continued to look into Haley's eyes.

Haley wiggled herself free of Nathan's grasp and dropped her shoes down onto the floor, hearing them land with a thud. "Nathan you can't be serious, have you completely lost your mind?" She asked as she began to pace up and down the small area by the front door.

Nathan ran his hand through his hair now that Haley had removed herself from his grasp and he didn't have to hold onto her. "No I've not lost my mind Hales, I mean think about it. You just said that you don't think you'll ever be able to bring that list up with anyone else, we had sex on Saturday night and absolutely nothing changed between us, I mean why not?" He reasoned. It seemed perfectly acceptable to him, in fact, the more he thought about it the better the idea seemed.

Haley continued to pace along the short expanse of the hallway before stopping as the thought came into her head. She turned to face him. "You don't have like… feelings for me do you?" She asked, almost dreading the answer Nathan would give her. If it was a yes then she was officially going to kill him for suggesting they had sex with each other in the first place. She knew that they never should have done it; it was stupid and completely irresponsible for them to sleep with each other…

Nathan's mouth dropped open at her insinuation and his eyes grew wide. "Hales, do you see me offering you a trip to London ?" He asked and watched as she scowled at him. "No I do not have feelings for you for God's sake. I just think that this would be a way of... I don't know..." He finished lamely.

Haley started up her pacing again. "Nathan I really don't think this is a good idea." She said as she continued to walk up and down.

Nathan followed her with his eyes. "Why not?" He demanded. He wanted to know why she didn't want to do this, what logical reason she could come up with for saying no to it because as far as he could see, there wasn't one. They'd already had sex and nothing had changed, why should having sex with each other a few more times make that any different? It wouldn't. He knew it wouldn't.

"Because Nathan, we're best friends, and I don't want to have a friends with benefits thing with you. I mean come on, we didn't even do that while we were growing up and we're not teenagers anymore. And besides, I don't want anything to risk ruining what we have Nathan." Haley explained, still walking up and down in front of him.

"It wouldn't be a friends with benefits thing Hales. I wouldn't want us to do that with you either." Nathan returned, rolling his eyes at her as she continued to walk up and down, she was driving him crazy with it.

"Well what the hell would you call it then Nathan? I mean wouldn't it just be two friends having casual sex?" She said, furrowing her brow as she walked. "That is a friends with benefits deal!"

"Damn it Haley will you quit with the walking up and down and up and down. You're driving me mad! Just stand still for God's sake!" Nathan cried out, unable to take one more second of her pacing. He waited until she had stopped walking and saw that she was now standing facing him with her hands crossed over her chest. "It would not be a friends with benefits thing." He affirmed.

"Then what the hell would it be Nathan?" Haley asked, wondering how you could ever describe what he was suggesting as anything but that.

"It would be… I don't like an arrangement or something?" Nathan suggested and watched as Haley raised her eyebrow at him. "I mean like we could just have like a set night every week where we tick something off the list."

Haley couldn't wrap her head around this; it was all just so… weird. "Nathan you do realise what you're suggesting don't you? You are suggesting that you and I have sex once a week just so that I can tick off a fantasy from a list?" She said, unable to help the fact that she was speaking in an incredibly high pitched tone.

"I'm well aware of what I'm suggesting Hales." Nathan responded in a serious tone so that she knew that he understood what he was saying.

"Why would you suggest something so stupid?" Haley screamed back at him. "I mean it's one thing for us to have sex once, which I still think was a little bit stupid of us…" She continued but was interrupted by Nathan.

"How was us having sex on Saturday night stupid?" Nathan countered. "You were worried about the fact that you couldn't climax during sex, so we had sex and now you know that you can. How is that stupid? That was simply a way of easing your insecurities, and this would be exactly the same."

"But I'm not insecure about what is listed in that notebook Nathan." Haley returned as she tightened the grip of her arms which were still crossed over her chest, knowing that what she had just said was a blatant lie, and she fully expected Nathan to expose it as such.

"Yeah and I've just seen a pig fly out the window." Nathan returned to her as he rolled his eyes at the fact that she had even bothered to open her mouth and lie like that. Did she think he was stupid or something?

Haley scoffed at the fact that he had called her up on her lie, not that she hadn't been expecting him to but still. "Alright, so I'm a little insecure about it." She said as she furrowed her brow, knowing yet again that she was lying once more.

"Hales, you ran out of a room tonight in front of your friends because they asked you whether you'd had sex in a park. I think that counts as you being more than a little insecure about your list, don't you?" Nathan returned with his eyebrow raised at her.

Haley bit down on her lip. He was right; of course he was right because he was always fucking right. She sighed deeply and raised her gaze up to meet his. "Nathan we can't do this…" She started, surprising herself at how weak her voice sounded. She cleared her throat and tried to sound more convincing. "What if we do this and it changes everything? I would never be able to live with myself if I ever lost you as my best friend Nathan."

Nathan walked over to her, placed both of his hands on the top of her arms and bent his knees so that he was eye level with her. "You're never going to lose me gorgeous. I promise you that." He said, his voice laced with strength and honesty. "And nothing will change; I mean, have your feelings for me changed since Saturday?" He asked.

"No but…" Haley started as she looked away from him and then looked back into his eyes when he interrupted her.

"And my feelings for you haven't changed either Hales. So why would this arrangement be any different?" Nathan asked, challenging her to find an argument back to that. It was what it simply boiled down to. She was reluctant to do this because it might change their feelings for each other and mess up their friendship, but if sex on Saturday hadn't changed anything, then future sex with each other wouldn't either. He wouldn't have suggested it if he didn't have faith in the fact that their friendship would still be in tact afterwards, she meant too much to him for him to risk losing her because of anything, and he knew she knew that.

Haley furrowed her brow and bit down on her lip, considering the offer. They would tick something off her fantasy list once a week. No feelings changed. She looked up into his blue eyes. "And what do you get out of this?" She asked, because to her this all seemed a little one sided.

"Well I'd be getting laid." Nathan returned with a smirk.

Haley shook her head at him and whacked him on the chest. "Nathan, for God's sake!" She admonished him.

Nathan continued to chuckle at her. "Well how about I add a couple of my own fantasies to that list of yours?" He suggested.

Haley breathed in deeply and closed her eyes briefly. Yet again, she couldn't help but think that she was walking into a complete disaster zone, as she had thought on Saturday. But he was right, nothing had changed between them since then so would this really be any different? Probably not. "We need rules…" She said as she bit down on her lip.

Nathan rolled his eyes. Of course they needed rules, it was Haley and rules were to be expected. But quite honestly they were probably needed. "I agree." He returned.

Haley closed her eyes and tried to find that voice in her head which told her that this was a bad idea, that they should not be doing this but it had completely disappeared, either that or the shouting of the 'what the hell are you doing stalling on this, you get to tick off a fantasy from that list, you'll have exciting sex stories to tell, you will be able to experience sex for what it's supposed to be, fun and exciting instead of dull and boring' voice was completely drowning it out. "Go into the lounge and wait there." She said as she disappeared down the hallway towards her bedroom.

Nathan watched her walk away from him in confusion and then walked into the lounge. He sat himself down on the sofa and waited patiently for her to come back, wondering what the hell she was doing. He waited five minutes before she returned with the notebook and a pen in her hands.

Haley sat down on the sofa and tucked her legs underneath her, turning to a clean page in the notebook. She wrote 'Rules of the Arrangement' on the top of the page and then placed the top of the pen in her mouth, chewing on it.

"Hales I really wish you wouldn't chew on your pens; didn't you learn your lesson when you got ink all over your mouth?" Nathan chastised her as he pulled the pen out of her mouth. "And besides, it's disgusting." He continued as he turned his nose up at the mangled pen.

"Oh be quiet you." Haley said as she rolled her eyes at him and placed the pen back in her mouth while grinning at Nathan. "Okay, rule number one. What day of the week will we do this?"

Nathan raised his eyebrows at her. "You are writing down the list of rules?" He asked incredulously and watched as Haley nodded her head at him. "Can't we just do this verbally?"

"Nope. And I'm going to get you to sign them as well." Haley returned as she pondered what day would be best for them to do this.

"You aren't being serious?" Nathan said in surprise, she wanted him to sign a piece of paper? Wasn't she taking this just a little bit too far?

"I am Nathan. I'm going to make sure that if we do this, nothing, and I mean nothing, changes between us and so we are both going to sign it so that it never happens." Haley responded.

"Hales, you're being ridiculous, my feelings for you won't change." Nathan returned, rolling his eyes at how nerdy she could be sometimes.

"I know they won't, and mine won't either, because we will have signed the rules. Now, what day do you think we should do it on?" Haley asked as she looked up at him.

Nathan ran his hand through his hair, he didn't think he was going to have to sign a contract for this thing, but if it kept her happy he'd go along with it. "How about Saturday, given that we had sex last Saturday?"

"Saturday's good." Haley said as she wrote it down. "Okay, so we tick things off the list every Saturday. I still don't want to kiss you because that's just weird."

"Me neither." Nathan agreed wholeheartedly.

"No kissing on the lips…" Haley muttered as she wrote it down. "What about dating and stuff?"

"Well considering this isn't a relationship I think dating other people is acceptable." Nathan responded.

"Me too." Haley returned and wrote it down. "I don't want anyone to ever know about this either, it stays between us."

"Agreed." Nathan said and watched as Haley scribbled down on the paper.

"And the most important rule of all… no changing of feelings." Haley said as she wrote it down.

"Absolutely, as I said last Saturday, if my feelings change I will take you on a trip to London and never ask you to make cupcakes again." Nathan said with a chuckle, knowing that it would never happen.

"Okay, and if my feelings change, I will buy us both a Knicks season ticket and go to every game with you, and make you cupcakes every two weeks." Haley returned. "Agreed?" She said and watched as Nathan nodded his head at her. She then signed the bottom of the page and turned it around so Nathan could do the same.

Nathan rolled his eyes at Haley and then signed the piece of paper. "Happy?"

"Uh huh." Haley said and the smiled at him as she snapped the notebook shut, only to then find that it was snatched out of her grasp by Nathan. "Hey, what do you think you're doing?"

Nathan chuckled at her as he opened the page at 'Haley's sex list' and read what was written there. "Just looking through to see what we're going to be doing on Saturday night."

"Like you haven't already got that whole list committed to your memory." Haley returned as she rolled her eyes at him.

"Oh I have, I just like to read your handwriting. I still can't believe that you've written some of this stuff Hales." Nathan teased and then ripped a blank page out of it and grabbed her pen out of her hands and started writing.

Haley looked over at him and raised her eyebrow. "What are you doing?" She asked as she tried to lean over and look at what he was writing but he leaned further away from her, blocking the page from her view and continued writing.

"Just writing my own little fantasy list for us to use." Nathan replied nonchalantly as he placed the pen back down on the sofa, smiling at what he had written.

"Let me see." Haley returned as she tried to grab the page, only Nathan was too quick for her and stood up out of her reach as she watched him fold the page into quarters.

"Oh no way, you're not going to see what's written on here gorgeous, it'll be a surprise." Nathan said as he chuckled at her horrified expression and then walked out of the room.

Haley watched Nathan walk out of the lounge and folded her arms over her chest in frustration. "There better not be any freaky shit on that Nathan because I won't do it." She shouted after him, hearing nothing but his chuckle get louder as he walked away from her. "I mean it Nathan; if there's a threesome written on there I will cut your balls off." She continued and then huffed to herself as she heard his bedroom door close. She opened up the rules page of the notebook and sighed to herself as she worried about what was on Nathan's fantasy list. She couldn't help but wonder what the hell she had gotten herself into.

**AN – Alright – so Nathan now has a list now too – but his is much shorter than Haley's list... wonder what they're going to get up to in the next chapter when it all kicks off properly..?**

**Please let me know what you thought of the chapter by leaving me a review!**

**As always a preview of the next chapter is available to those of you that want it – just let me know in your review and I'll get it out to you as soon as I can.**

**Oh and I'm also going to put a picture teaser on my blog which will give you a hint as to what they are going to be ticking off the list in the next chapter too... if you want to take a look the link is on my profile page as my homepage :o) **


	4. Chapter 4

**AN – Thank you all very much for leaving such lovely comments about the last chapter, you all make me smile so much!**

**As always just a few words to those of you who don't have accounts and didn't leave an email address so I couldn't respond personally – **BlueJean452 – **I'm so pleased you enjoyed the last chapter and I hope you enjoy this one too! **T – **Glad you are enjoying the story so far, and I hope you enjoy the update.**

**Right so on with the next chapter. I hope you all enjoy it!**

**Many thanks go to Rebecca and Kristin for giving this the once over before I posted it, you girls are great!**

**Chapter Four**

Nathan couldn't believe how nervous he was. He had honestly thought that his nerves had hit their peak on Thursday morning when the magnitude of what he had agreed to do with Haley hit him like a ton of bricks as he rolled out of bed, but he found that his nerves just kept building and building up inside of him with every hour that passed since then, and every time he thought he couldn't get any more anxious about it all, the nerves seemed to then crank up another notch. He dreaded what he would be like tomorrow, he wondered if he'd have a heart attack or something equally as serious, for tomorrow was Saturday, the day that this whole agreement with Haley was supposed to kick in and he was scared as fuck about it.

He was having doubts, serious doubts about it all. Should they really go through with this arrangement, this crazy idea of his? Wouldn't it change everything between them just like Haley had argued with him when he had first suggested it? It shouldn't, he reasoned with himself, having sex with Haley last Saturday hadn't changed their relationship with each other in the slightest, but could he honestly live with himself if constant sex with Haley did eventually change things? Could he really risk losing her for this, for what ultimately came down to being just sex? But wasn't he just being a good friend to her, wasn't that the reason why he had suggested this in the first place? He sighed heavily as he leaned back in his office chair and rested his legs on his desk. He brought the pen he had in his hands and clenched it between his teeth while he pondered and debated with himself. He then realised that he had a pen in his mouth and quickly chucked it back down on his desk in disgust, running his hands through his hair in pure frustration with himself, he hated it when Haley bit on pens and now he was doing it himself. His brain had to be becoming completely warped with worry, that was the only explanation for the fact that he had put that pen in his mouth and for the reason that he was in this ridiculous state of mind.

He glanced down at the clock on his computer and saw that it was quarter to seven, so he shut down his computer and put his suit jacket back on himself as he walked to the elevators, still completely deep in thought. He had this overwhelming feeling that, should he go through with this arrangement with Haley, that it wasn't going to end well. He wondered whether he should just quit while he was ahead because the feeling that was in the pit of his stomach right this very instant was not a good one, and the last thing he wanted to do was to jeopardise his relationship with Haley. She was his best friend and he knew that he would hate himself forever should anything come between them, especially something as ridiculous as sex.

He walked out of the office building's revolving door and glanced from left to right, not seeing Haley anywhere. He rolled his eyes; her not being here meant that they were going to be late, which in turn would mean that he would end up paying for the whole night's drinks for the second week in a row. He then walked to the left of the door and leaned his right foot up against the wall while he considered his current predicament some more. He then closed his eyes and leaned his head back, still debating internally with himself; eventually coming to the conclusion that helping Haley with this list of hers was just plain wrong and that they shouldn't do anything to disrupt their relationship. He wouldn't be able to stand it if things changed, and besides, if it felt right, if this was supposed to happen, well he wouldn't be this nervous about it all, would he? He breathed in deeply and told himself that he would tell Haley that the arrangement was off once they got back from the bar tonight. It was most certainly the best course of action, for them both. He just hoped that she would see it that way too.

Haley walked along the bustling sidewalk, not really concentrating on where she was going at all, for her mind was completely preoccupied with the impending thoughts of what tomorrow would bring. She had absolutely no idea why she was having these thoughts, things hadn't been at all awkward between her and Nathan after they'd had sex on Saturday night so why the hell was she feeling this nervous when nothing more had happened between them yet?

_Yet._ She clasped her hands together and began to play with her fingers as she bit down on her lip, sighing heavily to herself. What the hell had she been thinking, agreeing to something so stupid? She should have just said no to Nathan's offer of sex in the first place, that way they wouldn't even be here in this ridiculous situation. It was all Nathan's fault for suggesting that they have sex last Saturday, and she supposed that it was partly her fault for agreeing to do that with him in the first place. But then again, if Brooke_ the biggest pain in the ass on record_ Davis had never suggested that she write the damn list last year, well then she and Nathan would just be she and Nathan as they always were, and none of this nervousness would be consuming her whole being.

If she was having these doubts, then the whole idea couldn't be a good one, could it? If she were happy with this arrangement then she wouldn't be feeling this anxious about it all, would she? No, she wouldn't, she finally reasoned with herself, and just before she came to the corner before Nathan's office, she had made the decision to put an end to this arrangement before it had even begun. She needed to, for the sake of her relationship with Nathan and her own sanity; she hadn't been able to think clearly since Wednesday at all.

She glanced at her watch as she rounded the corner, seeing that she was a couple of minutes late, probably due to the worrying she had been doing on her way over to his office rather than concentrating on where she was going, she knew that she had been dawdling. She craned her neck and spotted Nathan leaning against the office building and she couldn't help but smile to herself at the sight of him. Instantly her worries started melting away, fading to the back of her mind. There was something about being in his presence which seemed to do that to her, he always managed to calm her down. She began walking towards him and noticed that he eyes were shut and she couldn't help but sigh, he had been working far too hard lately and really needed to sleep more than he currently was.

Nathan knew that she was somewhere close; he had that feeling inside of him which appeared suddenly whenever she was near him. He opened up his eyes, turned his head to the left and spotted her coming towards him through the crowd. He pushed himself away from the wall and began walking towards her, smiling wildly at her. "Hey gorgeous." He said when he was close enough for her to hear him.

Haley beamed back at him just as brightly. "Hey!" She responded and then felt his arm wrap around her shoulder as he pulled her into him and kissed the top of her head. "Did you have a good day?" She asked once he had allowed her to pull away from him a little bit.

"Hmm, so so to be honest, I definitely need a drink, put it that way." Nathan replied and then began to walk them both in the direction of the bar, twisting his wrist slightly from its current position on her shoulder so that he could catch a glimpse of the time as he looked over Haley's head, speeding up their pace once he realised that they might just be able to arrive on time if they hurried up a little bit. He really didn't want to have to put his credit card behind the bar for the second week in a row. "How about you gorgeous?" He asked.

"Same as you to be honest." Haley responded and then twisted her head so that she was looking up at him, giving him the once over and taking in how he was properly and instantly agreed with her earlier assessment of him when she had first spotted him leaning against his office building. "You look tired. I think you need to sleep more and to calm down the workload a little."

Nathan chuckled at her and then pulled her in tighter to him. "What makes you think I'm tired Hales? I'm fine." He said, rolling his eyes at her because she was worried about him, and quite honestly she was worrying about nothing, he was used to working to deadlines, it was what he did.

"You were practically falling asleep against that wall Nathan." Haley chastised him as she pointed over her shoulder at his office building. "You really do need to calm down the workload a bit, you didn't come home until gone eleven last night..."

Nathan interrupted her before she went on another one of her rants, knowing that the real reason as to why he had worked so late last night was because he had spent most of the day worrying about their arrangement instead of concentrating on his work, and he had needed to make up the time. "I have a big project on at the moment Hales and I need to put in the hours..." He started and then found that he was cut off by Haley interrupting him.

"Not that many hours Nathan, you're going to burn out soon, I promise you will. You left the apartment before I had even got out of bed on Thursday which means at the very least that you did a sixteen hour day which is just plain stupid, and you couldn't even meet me for lunch. Did you manage to have some dinner last night or did you skip it?" Haley asked as they rounded the corner towards the bar.

"Yes I had some dinner." Nathan answered as he rolled his eyes at her once more. She was turning into him, he was sure of it. "And quite honestly Hales, if anyone around here should be worried about someone's eating habits then it's me, not you. What did you have for dinner yesterday?"

Haley scowled at him as he opened up the door to the bar for her to walk through. "Don't you dare start that one again Nathan, I had enough of your ridiculous talk about my eating habits at lunch on Wednesday thank you very much." She said as she walked into the bar.

"And I've had enough of your ridiculous talk right now." Nathan responded as he raised an eyebrow at Haley, letting her know that if she didn't drop the subject then neither would he.

"Fine, I'll stop moaning at you." Haley conceded as she really didn't want to have to recount every single piece of food that had gone past her lips in the last two days to him, knowing fore well that he would make her do just that if she continued to talk about the subject of his working hours any longer than she already had.

"Good girl." Nathan said with a victorious smirk as he leaned in and placed a kiss on the top of her head again. "Vodka and coke?" He asked as he motioned his head towards the bar, seeing the rest of the gang seated at the usual table. He then took a quick glance at his watch, smiling at the fact that they had managed to get to the bar on time.

"Nope, vodka and diet coke please." Haley corrected him with a smile.

"Why diet?" Nathan asked.

"It tastes better." Haley responded.

"Well the full fat coke didn't bother you last week when I ordered it for you." Nathan challenged.

"It did bother me; I just chose not to mention it because I was pissed off enough about that slime ball Damien to worry about the taste of diet or full fat coke. Tonight I'm not so angry, but I will be if you don't get me the diet coke." Haley replied.

Nathan raised his eyebrow at her and then turned around so that he could walk in the direction of the bar, deciding that he wasn't going to bother with the diet coke, hopefully she wouldn't notice the difference anyway.

"Oh and Nathan?" Haley called after him and then waited until he had turned around to face her. "Don't even think about swapping the diet coke for the full fat stuff because I can taste the difference, you know that I can." She said with a smile before turning herself around and heading for the table where their friends were currently seated.

Nathan rolled his eyes at her and turned around as he continued to walk to the bar, still deciding that he was going to try to trick her with the full fat stuff. It tasted just the same to him and she didn't need the diet version anyway.

"Hey guys!" Haley greeted the table as she slipped in the booth next to Brooke.

"Hey Haley, are you feeling better?" Jake asked as he leaned over Peyton so that he could see her properly.

"What?" Haley asked, wondering what he was going on about because she hadn't been feeling ill at all this week.

"Wednesday night you and Nathan left poker early because you weren't feeling too good. Remember?" Peyton explained.

"Oh that!" Haley said, the question Jake had asked her finally clicking in her mind. "Yeah I'm fine now thanks, it really wasn't that bad, it was just Nathan overreacting."

"As always." Lucas said as he rolled his eyes. "He always has been ridiculously overprotective of you Haley."

"Shut up Luke, I think it's sweet that Nathan's like that with her; it's the only time I don't see him acting like an absolute ass." Brooke admonished him before turning her attention back to Haley. "So what were you two arguing about when you walked in here?"

Haley rolled her eyes at Brooke. "We weren't arguing about anything."

"Yes you were I saw you two just a moment ago, he was rolling his eyes at you." Brooke countered Haley, wanting to know what their disagreement had been about this time. They were usually extremely interesting, well; more interesting that discussing how the rest of everyone's week had been anyway.

Haley sighed as she turned around in her seat to face Brooke. "I think he's working too hard and not getting enough sleep, he's worried I'm not eating properly." She revealed. "So there you go, we weren't discussing anything remotely interesting."

"And are you?" Brooke asked.

"Am I what?" Haley replied, confused about what Brooke was asking her.

"Eating properly." Brooke stated as she waited patiently for Haley to answer her.

Haley rolled her eyes at Brooke. "Jesus Christ, not you as well! Yes am I eating properly, why the hell is everyone so interested in my eating habits all of a sudden?" She asked, finding that she was completely exasperated about this topic of conversation, it was driving her insane.

"Alright, calm down, I was only asking. Why would Nathan bring it up if he didn't think there was something wrong?" Brooke asked.

Haley shook her head and sighed. "I don't know, we went out for lunch on Wednesday and I ordered a salad and he went completely ape shit at me."

"Because you ordered a salad?" Brooke asked, wondering what the hell was wrong with that, she ordered salads all the time.

"Well that and also he called me unfit earlier on in the day, I think he was just putting two and two together and thought that he was coming up with four." Haley responded.

"Oh?" Brooke questioned, still wondering how this all fitted together.

Haley looked up at Brooke and knew that she needed to explain things a little more to her. "He felt bad about calling me unfit, I said that I could probably do with losing a few pounds and then he got all worried about it." She explained.

"Okay, now I get it." Brooke said as she rolled her eyes at their Nathan and Haley like behaviour. "So are you trying to lose a few pounds? You don't need to you know Haley."

"I'm not really trying to lose a few pounds, just trying to tone up a bit. I couldn't even walk up the stairs to the apartment without stopping at the third floor for a breather, it's ridiculous." Haley responded, instantly pushing those thoughts and memories out of her head because Wednesday night was the night when she and Nathan had entered into this stupid agreement, the one that she needed to end tonight and so she quickly found herself changing the subject onto much safer matters which hopefully meant that she wouldn't spend the entire night worrying about the arrangement. "I joined a gym."

"Really? Which one?" Brooke asked.

"Shapers, you know the one that is kind of near to my work, it's the one I pass on the way back to the apartment." Haley returned.

"No way!" Brooke squealed at her. "I go to that one!"

"You do?" Haley asked, wondering how she hadn't known that piece of information.

"Yeah! Oh my gosh, this is going to be so much fun! We can start going together, we can be gym buddies! Who's your induction with?" Brooke asked, her eyes dancing with excitement.

Haley rolled her eyes at Brooke's enthusiasm, but she supposed that if she had Brooke waiting on her at the gym she might actually use it a little more often than she had originally intended. "Erm, my induction is with some guy named Ryan." She answered.

Brooke's mouth dropped open. "You got Ryan?" She screeched.

"Jesus Brooke will you lower the tone of your voice, I think there was even a dog on the moon that caught that." Lucas said as he rolled his eyes at his girlfriend.

Brooke raised her eyebrow at Lucas who quickly went back to his discussion with Jake and Peyton. "Oh my god, Ryan is so lovely, how good looking is he?" Brooke gushed as she turned her attention back to Haley.

"Erm, he's okay I guess, to be honest I didn't really notice." Haley returned, rolling her eyes at how flustered Brooke was getting, she didn't even get like this over Lucas, and she completely adored Luke, in her own little Brooke-like way.

"How the hell could you not notice Haley? He has the most amazing eyes, literally I get completely lost in them sometimes, and oh my gosh, his body is just amazing…" Brooke started as she fantasised about Ryan, finding her happy place, only to have her thoughts interrupted rather rudely by Haley.

Haley laughed at Brooke. "I think you'll find that your boyfriend is sitting right next to you. You do remember who he is, don't you? The guy you've been dating since High School, blonde hair, blue eyes…"

Brooke sighed as she came back to reality. "I know, but a girl can dream right?" She giggled.

Haley giggled alongside her. "You might be better off doing that when you aren't sat next to your boyfriend though."

"Yeah you might be right." Brooke sighed. "So when is your induction with the lovely Ryan?" She asked.

"Sunday at four." Haley returned. "But I haven't told Nathan about the whole joining a gym thing yet, given how much of a freak out he's been having with me lately about all that kind of stuff I didn't think it would be a good idea…"

"Oh I see…" Brooke said and then smiled at Haley, knowing that she didn't want him to know about her joining a gym just yet, which was fine with her. "Where the hell is he anyway?" She asked.

"I have no idea." Haley returned as she turned around in her seat and began searching for Nathan at the bar.

Nathan walked up to the bar, muttering under his breath about the fact that there clearly was no difference between diet and full fat coke. Haley was just being ridiculous. Eventually, he ended up at the bar and waited patiently to be served. He picked out his blackberry from his pocket and rolled his eyes as he looked over the seven e-mails he had received since leaving the office and deleted the ones that had nothing to do with him, before glancing up when someone cleared their throat in front of him. He raised his gaze and noticed that there was a woman was standing behind the bar, which was unusual; he didn't recognise her at all. "Are you new?" He asked.

"Yeah I am new, I'm Sarah, what can I get for you?" Sarah asked as she smiled up at Nathan.

"One vodka and coke and a beer please." Nathan said and then watched as she grabbed a glass from above the bar and twisted around to pour the vodka into the glass while simultaneously reaching down to grab a beer from the fridge below.

Sarah turned around and placed the beer next to the man and placed the glass down in front of her, getting ready to pour the coke into the glass. Before she pressed the button she double checked with him. "Normal or diet?" She asked.

"Normal." Nathan confirmed and then smirked as he watched Haley's vodka get filled with normal coke instead of the diet she had ordered. There was no way in hell that she would be able to taste the difference, he certainly couldn't.

"Here you go." Sarah said as she placed the vodka and coke down on the bar in front of him.

"Thanks." Nathan returned and smiled at her. "We should have a tab set up; I'm with the table in the corner over there." He continued, pointing back at his friends before twisting himself back around again to face Sarah.

"Oh okay, yeah they set one up when they came in. So are you guys regulars?" Sarah asked.

"Every Friday at seven." Nathan smiled at her as he took a swig of his beer.

"So it looks like we'll be seeing more of each other then." Sarah smiled back at him.

"Indeed." Nathan returned, and then lowered his gaze down to the drink he had ordered for Haley, before lifting it back up to Sarah's. "Well I'd better get this drink back to the table otherwise she'll castrate me or something." He continued and smiled back at Sarah once more. "It was good to meet you, I hope you like working here."

"Good to meet you too." Sarah returned and then moved on down the bar; taking another order from another customer, while not being able to remove her gaze from the boy with the blue eyes.

Nathan turned around and carried his and Haley's drinks over to the table, placing her vodka and coke, normal, not diet, in front of her before sliding into the booth next to Peyton.

"She looks cute." Haley said as she pulled her drink towards herself.

"Who?" Nathan asked as he eyed Haley suspiciously. What the hell was she going on about now?

"The new bargirl." Brooke replied, her eyes glistening with mischief.

"I didn't notice." Nathan returned nonchalantly as he took another sip of his beer.

"Please, she was blatantly flirting with you, did you not notice the way that she bent down to get your beer out of the fridge?" Brooke said as she rolled her eyes at how dumb he could be sometimes.

"Like I said, I didn't notice." Nathan returned, not wanting to be subjected to any of Brooke's matchmaking skills tonight, or any other night for that matter. He'd seen firsthand the disaster that was Haley and her many dates and there was no way that he was ever going to allow himself to get involved in any of that shit. And besides, he didn't really want to date anyone at the moment anyway.

Haley played with her glass and glanced up at the bar, seeing the new bargirl staring over at Nathan. She quickly moved her gaze back down to the glass in front of her. "She's looking at you Nathan! I think she likes you!" She said with a smile as she lifted her eyes and caught Nathan's glare.

"Will you stop looking at her? You're both so flipping obvious." Nathan chastised them both.

"Do you like her?" Brooke asked excitedly.

"No I don't like her, and will you both stop looking at me like that?" Nathan cried out as he took in both of their surreptitious glares.

"What's her name?" Brooke asked casually as she took a sip of her drink.

"Sarah." Nathan returned.

"Ha! You know her name! That means you did more than just order drinks from her, you must like her!" Brooke squealed and then bounced up and down in her chair as she glanced over at the bar quickly and caught Sarah looking at Nathan once more. "She just looked at you again!"

"For God's sake Brooke will you stop looking at her?" Nathan hissed at Brooke, finding that he was quickly losing his patience with her and he hadn't even drunk half of his bottle of beer yet.

Haley giggled quietly to herself at how irritated Nathan was getting and took a sip of her drink, scowling as soon as the liquid entered her mouth, knowing that he had ordered her a normal coke instead of the diet she had asked for with her vodka. She looked up at him with a raised eyebrow, but saw that he was currently glaring at Brooke. She sighed and then pushed her glass across the table towards him.

"And she told me her name, I didn't ask for it, not that it's any of your business anyway." Nathan continued to hiss over at Brooke. He glared at her for a while and then noticed that something was moving towards him in his peripheral vision. He glanced down quickly and saw that Haley's hand was pushing her drink over to him. He lifted his eyes to hers and raised his eyebrow. "Why are you pushing your drink towards me?" He asked.

"Its full fat coke and I asked for diet." Haley stated, raising her own eyebrow at Nathan, daring him to challenge the fact that it was indeed normal and not diet coke.

"Haley there is no difference between full fat and diet coke." Nathan returned through gritted teeth, pissed off at her for the fact that she had mentioned something about the new bargirl, which had in turn allowed Brooke to release the full force of her incredibly unsuccessful matchmaking skills on him.

"Actually Nathan, there is the difference of about a hundred or so calories." Brooke interjected.

"And who the fuck asked you Brooke." Nathan bit back at her, the volume of his voice rising with every word that came out of his mouth.

Haley quickly intervened before another Brooke Nathan fight broke out. "Look Nathan, there is a difference and I can taste the difference, it has nothing to do with calories, I just prefer the taste of diet coke…." Haley started but found that she was interrupted by Nathan.

"There is no difference in taste!" Nathan cried out in frustration.

"Yes there is Nathan, so can you go and get me a vodka with diet coke like I asked please?" Haley returned with a raised eyebrow.

"Why can't you go and get it yourself?" Nathan returned as he folded his arms across his chest. "Why should I go and get it for you?" He asked suspiciously, sure that she was just using the drink as an excuse to get him to talk to Sarah again.

"Because you messed my order up." Haley replied. "Please?"

"No Hales, I'm not going to go back to that bar to get you another drink when you have one in front of you that tastes exactly the same that you aren't even going to finish." Nathan said, standing his ground.

"Oh come on Nathan, please?" Haley whined and then pouted at him.

"Don't even think about whining at me Hales. It's not going to work. There is no difference in taste so just deal with it and drink it." Nathan replied sternly, shaking his head at her.

"You'll get to speak to the cute bargirl again…" Haley said suggestively.

"I knew that was what you were up to!" Nathan returned incredulously. "There is no way I'm going to succumb to your silly high school matchmaking games. I'm not even interested in her for crying out loud so will you both just stop with the suggestive staring." He said as he pushed Haley's drink back at her. "And besides, like I've said a thousand times already tonight, there is no difference in taste so just drink it will you for God's sake."

Haley continued to glare at him. "There is a difference Nathan." She returned once again and then proceeded to stand up from the table. "Come on, I'll show you." She said as she motioned for Nathan to get up from the table.

"Haley I really don't care about the difference in taste of full fat and diet coke that much, I'm happy where I am." Nathan returned and then turned around in his seat to see the look on Haley's face. He knew not to mess with that look.

"Nathan come on, otherwise I will drag you to the bar myself." Haley returned with her free hand placed firmly on her hip, the other carrying the vodka and coke, normal not diet.

"Fine. I'm coming." Nathan returned and then slipped out of the booth.

Haley started giggling, she couldn't help it.

"What the hell are you finding so funny? I swear to God Haley if you try anything with the bargirl I'm going to get so angry at you." Nathan started.

"No it's not that, I'm not planning anything Nathan with this Sarah girl, don't worry." Haley returned as she turned her face to look up at Nathan. "I was just remembering you taking the piss out of me on Wednesday after I said those words."

"What words?" Nathan responded as he continued walking up to the bar with Haley.

"I'm coming." Haley returned just as they got to the bar. She sat down on one of the bar stools and watched as Nathan followed, sitting down in the empty one next to her, a look of pure confusion swept across his face. Haley sighed and then leaned into him. "You know after we had sex and you were in the living room…"

"Oh!" Nathan replied as the light bulb finally switched on in his head and he chuckled to himself. "That was quite funny actually."

"Back so soon?" Sarah asked as she placed her hand on her hips and raised her eyebrow at Nathan.

"Erm, yeah, I guess so." Nathan replied and then smiled back at her politely.

"Can I get a vodka and diet coke please." Haley asked and then watched as Sarah poured both the vodka and the diet coke into the glass, and then placed it in front of her. "Thanks."

Nathan swivelled around slightly in his seat so that he was facing Haley. "I'm telling you there's no difference in the taste of either drink gorgeous so you're just wasting my time as well as yours."

"We'll see about that." Haley responded. "Close your eyes."

"What?" Nathan replied incredulously. "You're not serious Hales. You want me to close my eyes?"

"Er yeah, otherwise you're going to be able to cheat." Haley said and then raised both her eyebrows at Nathan as she waited for him to close his eyes.

Nathan sighed heavily at her request, she was officially crazy. "Fine." He responded and then shut his eyes, not believing that he was sitting in a bar with his damn eyes closed, presumably so that Haley could hold the drinks up to his mouth, he must look like a right idiot.

Haley smiled and then brought the first of the drinks up to his lips, letting him suck through the straw she had placed in the drink. "Okay, that's the first one." She said and then brought the other drink up to his lips, letting him take a sip of the other drink. "And this one is the second."

Nathan tried to distinguish the taste of the drinks he had just tasted. "Can I open my eyes now?" He asked.

"You can." Haley said once she had placed the glass back down on the table. "So which one was diet, drink number one or drink number two?" She asked.

Nathan leaned in closer to Haley, who was looking at him like she had just made a major breakthrough with him. "They both tasted exactly the same." He said and then chuckled when she scowled back at him.

Haley huffed at him, how he couldn't tell the difference was completely beyond her. They tasted so different to her, she could practically taste the sugar in the full fat coke eroding her teeth as she drunk it, it was disgusting. "Well you're obviously just silly Nathan because I can taste the difference." She returned and then took a sip of the diet drink. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to take my vodka and diet coke and head back to the table." She said as she slid off her stool and then walked back to the table where her friends were sitting.

Nathan shook his head as he watched Haley walk back to the table and then turned around to find that he had been left at the bar with Sarah. He smiled awkwardly at her, not knowing what he should do now that they were alone. "Can I get another beer?" He asked eventually, wanting to break the awkward silence that was surrounding them.

"Sure." Sarah returned and then grabbed a bottle of beer from the fridge behind her.

Nathan lowered his gaze as he waited for his beer bottle, noticing that Sarah was sticking her ass out just a little bit too far than was necessary, but was it really intentional? She smiled at him as she turned around and then placed the bottle of beer down in front of him. "Thanks." He said and then took a sip of the beer.

"So is that your girlfriend?" Sarah asked as she leaned down on the bar in front of him.

"Who Haley?" Nathan asked as he pointed with his hand in the direction of the table where his friends were sitting, and watched as Sarah nodded her head. "Oh no, she's my best friend."

"Oh! Sorry, I just presumed you were together." Sarah responded.

"You're not the first one to assume that." Nathan replied as he took another gulp of his beer, the awkward silence returning. He cleared his throat and then decided that he should get back to the table. "Well I should head back to my friends."

"Sure, I need to get back to work." Sarah replied.

Nathan looked down at the vodka with the full fat coke in it. "You might as well chuck that, there's no way she'll drink it." He said and rolled his eyes.

Sarah chuckled and grabbed the drink from beside him. "Well for what it's worth, I can't tell the difference between normal and diet coke either." She smiled at him and then threw the vodka and coke into the sink.

Nathan smiled back at her and then watched as she moved down the bar and began to serve the other customers, before he twisted himself around and walked back to the table.

"So what are your plans for tomorrow?" Brooke asked just as she saw Nathan turn around from where he had been standing at the bar, wanting it to look like she and Haley had been in deep conversation instead of watching Nathan and Sarah at the bar.

"I need to go shopping for some clothes for Sunday, you know…" Haley said, hoping that Brooke got what she was talking about given that Nathan had just sat back down in the booth. She glanced over at him quickly and saw that he wasn't acknowledging either her or Brooke and had started up a conversation with Lucas, Jake and Peyton.

"Oh!" Brooke responded, instantly knowing what Haley was talking about. "I'll come with you if you want, we can get you some hot gym clothes to impress Ryan." She whispered to Haley and then started giggling.

"Brooke, I am not going to the gym to impress anybody thank you very much." Haley returned in a whisper as well, not wanting Nathan to overhear their conversation.

"Whatever Haley. You're single, Ryan's hot, I totally think you should go for it." Brooke returned, still keeping her voice to a whisper.

"Brooke. I thought we had an agreement, no more dates." Haley admonished her.

Brooke glared at her. "Alright fine. But I'm still coming shopping with you tomorrow."

"Fine." Haley conceded, knowing that it was pointless arguing with Brooke where shopping was concerned.

"So what do you think about Nathan and this Sarah girl?" Brooke whispered to her.

"I don't know, I have no idea whether he likes her or not." Haley responded.

"Well I think they'd look cute together, don't you?" Brooke said as she looked over towards the bar, trying to find Sarah and caught her looking right at Nathan again. She started to giggle. "She's staring at him again."

Haley turned around in her seat and sure enough, caught Sarah looking over at Nathan. She turned her gaze onto Nathan, who was engrossed in a conversation with Lucas and smiled at him, before turning back around to Brooke.

"I totally think we should set them up." Brooke whispered, her eyes dancing with excitement at the prospect of setting up yet another date.

"I'll talk to him tonight and try and suss out where his head's at." Haley returned.

"And make sure you tell me everything tomorrow." Brooke said.

Haley rolled her eyes at her friend who was all but pleading at her with her eyes. "Okay I will."

~*~

Four hours later, Nathan was feeling a little worse for wear. The beers had turned into glasses of Scotch somewhere along the way and Haley's vodkas and diet cokes had turned into God knows what, but he decided to call it a night for them both before they both ended up ridiculously hung over and sick the next day. "Come on gorgeous, let's go home." He said as he stood up from the booth and leaned against the table for support, as he waited for Haley to stand up with him.

"Okay, Brooke, I'll call you tomorrow about shopping. I'll see the rest of you guys later." Haley said as she slipped out of the booth and latched onto Nathan's arm which had wrapped around her shoulder, and she slipped hers along his waist. The bar had died down a little by now and there weren't as many people in there as there had been at the start of the night.

"Bye Nathan." Sarah called out from behind the bar.

Nathan turned around quickly and saw that she was waving shyly at him. He smiled back at her, wondering how she knew his name. "See you next week Sarah." He responded and then led him and Haley out of the bar.

Haley looked back at Sarah and smiled at her as she walked through the door of the bar, heading out onto the street. It was pretty obvious that Sarah liked Nathan, and she couldn't help but wonder what he thought about the whole situation. She then leaned her head slightly and smiled up at Nathan, who glanced down at her and smiled back at her in return.

"Right then gorgeous, what shoes have you chosen to wear tonight?" Nathan asked as they walked to the curb.

"Do you like her?" Haley asked, wanting to know what was going on in his head. She couldn't tell whether he did like Sarah or not, maybe it was the alcohol she had consumed that evening which was making her unable to read him like she usually could, but either way she wanted an answer.

Nathan deliberately ignored her question and looked down at her feet, seeing that she was wearing another pair of high heels. "Cab it is then, I'm not carrying you all the way home again." He said and then walked out into the road, hailing the first cab he could see which drove up to them and came to a stop right where they were standing. "Come on Hales." He said as he held open the door for her to climb in and then followed after her, shutting the door behind him. He gave the driver their address and then leaned back in the chair, shutting his eyes and quickly changed the subject. "So it's Saturday tomorrow?" Nathan asked.

Haley sighed at his obvious change of subject but decided to go along with it for now. "Yep." She replied as she twisted herself in the seat so that she could look at him properly.

"And you're going out with Brooke?" Nathan asked, suddenly remembering once again that tomorrow night was the first night that their arrangement was supposed to take place. All thoughts of calling the whole thing off had completely vanished from his mind, in fact after the fact that Brooke had tried to meddle in his love life he realised that he needed some action of some kind, so that he could tell Brooke that he was having sex and that she needed to fuck off out of his business.

"I am, sometime in the morning or early afternoon probably." Haley responded, and then thought some more about changing the subject back to Sarah, only Nathan started to talk before she'd even had a chance to process a coherent sentence in her mind.

"So what time do you want the arrangement to begin?" Nathan asked with his eyes still closed, wanting to know if she still wanted in on this thing or not and also wanting to divert the conversation away from Sarah.

Haley furrowed her brow as she remembered what tomorrow meant. She began to play with her fingers again. "Nathan are you sure you still want to go through with it?" She asked eventually, her voice filling the otherwise silent car, save for the sound of the engine driving them towards their home.

Nathan opened his eyes and looked right at Haley, his expression softening immediately. He could tell that she was still nervous about it and suddenly the nerves he had managed to quash earlier on in the night fluttered up inside of him again. "I only want to do it if you still want to gorgeous. If you're that worried about it then we won't do it, okay?" He responded.

Haley looked up at Nathan from underneath her eyelashes. "You still think nothing will change between us?" She asked, wanting affirmation and confirmation of that fact, because if she didn't have that from him, then there was no way in hell that she could even think about going ahead with the arrangement.

Nathan reached down and pulled one of her hands into his. "Nothing changed since last Saturday, did it?" He asked and watched as Haley shook her head at him. "So I swear nothing will change after this too gorgeous, but like I said, you just say the word and we won't do it, we'll burn the list and act like it never existed, if that's what you want."

"As long as you're sure nothing will change." Haley responded as she bit down on her lip nervously. She wouldn't be able to take it if everything changed, things were perfect between them as they were and she didn't want anybody or anything to rock their friendship.

"Hey, you made me sign something gorgeous, so I know nothing will go wrong." Nathan teased her, rolling his eyes once again at her incredibly nerdy behaviour.

Haley laughed along with him, even though she knew that he was laughing at her, and then relaxed back in her chair and leaned towards Nathan. "That's true, at least I have written evidence that nothing will change."

"You do." Nathan replied and smiled at her, watching as she relaxed into his arm.

Haley sighed deeply and then turned her head up so that she was looking right at Nathan. "I'm good with it as long as you are."

"I'm good with it." Nathan responded, looking back into her deep brown eyes.

"Okay then." Haley said and then turned her head back so that she was resting more comfortably on his arm.

"Okay." Nathan replied and then placed a kiss on the top of her head as he waited for them to arrive back at the apartment.

~*~

It was five o'clock in the afternoon and Haley sat in the changing room, after having yet another set of shorts and a cropped sports top thrown at her through the curtain courtesy of Brooke. She was completely worn out; every item of clothing she had tried on had looked exactly the same as the last to her, but seemingly not to Brooke. One didn't hug her ass in the way that she wanted it to be hugged, the other made her boobs look too flat, and mother of God if she said one more thing about the shape of her thighs then she was about to suffocate her with her own hands. "Brooke this is the last damn thing I am trying on." She said in a stern tone. "I've had enough."

"That's fine because I already know that this set is going to look perfect on you, I've got a really good feeling about this one." Brooke said excitedly as she stood right outside the dressing room. "Don't forget to show me when you've got it on."

Haley scoffed as she pulled the ridiculously tight shorts onto her body. "Brooke, you said that the other twenty I tried on were going to be perfect too but somehow you managed to pick holes in all of them as well."

"No I did not! I thought that the seventh one was also perfect but you need more than one set of gym clothes Haley, you can't keep turning up dressed in the same stuff." Brooke explained as she rolled her eyes at Haley. Why she hated shopping so much was completely beyond her, shopping was the perfect way for Brooke to relax and she didn't understand why Haley didn't enjoy it at all. "And besides, you want to look hot for Ryan, don't you?"

It was Haley's turn to roll her eyes at her friend. "Brooke I am not going to the gym to pick up guys, least of all one of the gym instructors. I am going to tone up my body, and for no other reason than that, so will you please stop banging on about how hot he is or whatever and just let me get the hell out of this changing room already." She said in a huff as she pulled back the curtain, ready for Brooke to give the shorts and top the thumbs up, because if she didn't then she wasn't going to be held responsible for her reaction to having to try on another set of clothes. There would be blood, she was certain of it.

"Oh, it's perfect, I love it, look how good your boobs look, they don't look flat at all, and your ass looks hot Haley. Ryan won't be able to keep his eyes, or his hands, well hopefully his hands, off you!" Brooke shrieked as she grabbed onto Haley's body and twisted her around just so that she could make sure that the clothes were indeed perfect.

"Brooke, I already told you, I am not going to the gym to pick up guys. What the hell is your obsession with Ryan anyway? I'm not interested in him in the slightest." Haley scolded her friend as she turned around and looked at her reflection. She hated to admit it but Brooke was right, this looked just as good as item number seven, if not a little bit better, but of course she would never tell Brooke that, it would only encourage her.

"Please Haley; everyone says that when they first meet him, but trust me, after your induction session with him, you're going to be just as obsessed with him as the rest of us are." Brooke said knowingly, and then drifted into another daydream of Ryan.

Haley sighed heavily and shook her head at Brooke. "Anyway, I'm getting this and number seven right?" She asked as she walked back into the changing room and shut the curtain, beginning to peel the skin tight clothes off her body.

"Oh yeah you're definitely getting those two." Brooke said as she waited patiently for Haley to get changed. "I just want to have a look at the lingerie before we go home."

"Brooke are you kidding me?" Haley moaned as she slipped her jeans onto her legs. "Haven't we done enough shopping for one day?"

"We won't be long; I just want to pick up a few sets of stuff." Brooke said with a smile, knowing that all this shopping was probably killing Haley but they were here and she wanted to look so Haley was just going to have to deal with it.

Haley pulled the curtain back and scooped up the mountain of shorts and tops that she wouldn't be purchasing and carried them to the woman who was manning the fitting rooms, before heading back and picking up the four items of clothing that she would be buying. "Not long to you feels like an entire lifetime to me where shopping is concerned." She said as she walked with Brooke through the department store and let Brooke lead the way to the lingerie department.

"Just quit your moaning, I promise I won't be long." Brooke sighed as she stepped onto the escalators and headed up to the next floor which housed the lingerie.

Half an hour later, Brooke had about ten sets of underwear in her arms and had just disappeared into the changing rooms. Haley had opted not to join her and instead walked towards the checkout, intending to pay for her purchases in an effort to speed up the remaining time she would need to spend in this department store. She walked past all the lace and satin underwear and couldn't help the fact that her thoughts were slipping to tonight and what it would entail; sex with Nathan, again.

She could feel her heart rate begin to accelerate as the thought ran through her mind. She didn't even have a clue what the hell they were going to do tonight, which item on the list were they going to tick off first? Would it be something from her list or something from Nathan's mystery list that he had put together quickly on Wednesday night? Then thoughts of what could be on that list ran endlessly through her mind, each thought more disturbing than the last.

But as quickly as those thoughts had entered her head, she managed to calm herself down just as fast. She knew that Nathan would never let her do, or force her to do something that she wasn't entirely comfortable with and despite what he had written down on his fantasy list, if she didn't want to do it, she always knew that she could just simply say no to him and no offence would be taken. Wasn't that the beauty of doing something like this with someone who knew you so well? There shouldn't be any embarrassment there, and there was also this level of understanding that ran between them both, a level of trust that was the foundation of their friendship that already cemented them together so tightly.

She walked through the bras and panties towards the checkout and stopped in front of a black lacy set of underwear, pulling her free hand out to touch the lace of the bra. She then looked around to make sure that Brooke was nowhere to be seen, she didn't want to be explaining why she was buying sexy underwear at the moment when she didn't even have a man in her life to show it off to, as that would only serve to raise her suspicions which was definitely something that Haley didn't want to do. She didn't have time to try it on; she'd just have to hope that it fitted well enough when she put it on tonight and grabbed her size, stuffing the underwear set underneath her gym clothes. Why she was buying sexy underwear for Nathan she didn't know, but if they were going to do this, she could at least make the effort, right?

~*~

Nathan hadn't really done much since Haley had left to go shopping with Brooke. As soon as she had left the apartment, he had jumped on the moonwalker for an hour and then took a shower once he had finished. He then sat down on the sofa and played some Gran Turismo to pass the time and before he knew it he heard Haley walk back into the apartment. He grunted a hello at her as he quickly turned his head up to smile at her only to then return it back to the game, for he was in the middle of a race and was finally about to win and he wasn't going to allow her to distract him, he'd been trying to win this damn race for the past half an hour.

Haley leaned against the door frame and rolled her eyes at the grunt she had received from Nathan. She watched as he raced, almost laughing at how in the zone he looked at that moment. She shook her head at his boyish antics and then walked towards her bedroom; nearly jumping out of her skin when Nathan yelled out in what she presumed was victory. She then walked into her bedroom and shut the door behind her, satisfied that Nathan would at least be occupied for the next couple of minutes, giving her a chance to change into her new underwear. She stripped off her jeans, followed by her tank top and then slipped her bra and panties off her body. She rooted around in the bag and pulled out the new underwear, hoping that it fit her properly.

As soon as Nathan had won his race, he saved his game and then turned off his Playstation, before bounding down the hallway towards Haley's room. "Sorry gorgeous, I just needed to finish that race off, it was annoying the hell out of me." He said as he continued down the corridor until he got to her room and then placed his hand on the doorknob before turning it. "How was shopping..." He started but was interrupted by Haley shouting at him through the door.

Haley could hear him getting closer and closer to her room and she was standing there in nothing but her new underwear. She ran over to the door and banged her body against it. "You can't come in here!" She shouted through the door, feeling incredibly relieved that she had managed to stop him walking into her bedroom and having him catch her in her underwear.

Nathan frowned at the door as he felt Haley push back against it. "Why not?" He asked, confused as to why she wasn't letting him inside.

"Because I'm in my underwear, that's why." Haley said through the door, and she also needed to hide her gym clothes from Nathan before he started asking what she had bought from the shops.

Nathan smirked through the door. "It's nothing I haven't seen before gorgeous, in fact, I've seen much more than you in your underwear, and I think, if I remember correctly, I'm going to be seeing much more than you in your underwear tonight as well." He said with a raised eyebrow.

Haley rolled her eyes at him. "If you carry on like that you won't be seeing anything tonight." She bit back at him, still pushing her body up against the door in an effort to stop him from entering her room.

Nathan had to laugh at that one. "Like you could resist me Hales." He said through his laughter, before quickly changing the subject just in case she was being serious. "So why are you in your underwear?" He asked.

"I'm just changing." Haley returned. "Just wait there, I'll be out in a second."

"Okay." Nathan replied as he stepped away from the door and leaned back against the wall on the other side of the hallway. "How was shopping with Brooke?"

Haley quickly hid the bag of gym clothes in one of her drawers and pulled her jeans and her tank top back on her body. "Urgh. You know what she's like. It was absolute torture." She shouted back through the door so that he could hear her.

Nathan laughed. "I don't know why you agree to go with her if you hate it so much. Did you buy anything?"

Haley bit down on her lip as she ran her hands through her hair, giving herself the once over in the mirror. "Nope." She responded as she walked towards the door and opened it, finding Nathan eyeing her up and down with a very strange look on his face. "What?" She asked, wondering if she had grown an extra head or something.

"You didn't change." Nathan replied, looking at her with utter confusion.

"Yes I did." Haley said, mentally kicking herself for not having the sense to at least change the top she was wearing, but she didn't think Nathan had taken any notice of what she was wearing when she had walked back into the apartment, he had only looked at her for half a second for crying out loud.

"No you didn't, you were wearing that exact same thing five minutes ago." Nathan responded as he followed her down the corridor away from her bedroom.

Haley closed her eyes briefly, wishing that he wasn't so damn aware of everything about her at times like this. She knew that it was pointless to argue with him so she decided to quickly change the subject. "So what do you want for dinner?" She asked as she walked past the lounge and headed to the kitchen, pulling out a bottle of wine from the fridge and pouring both herself and Nathan a glass, before checking to see what food they had in the fridge.

Nathan didn't have a clue why she had lied to him but it didn't really matter, so he decided to drop the subject. "I don't really mind, what can we have?" He asked as he took a sip of the chilled wine.

"We can do chicken? Or pasta?" Haley called out from the fridge as she looked at what ingredients they had available.

"Pasta sounds good." Nathan responded.

"Okay, pasta it is." Haley said as she took out the fresh pasta, parmesan, eggs, and cream, together with the pancetta, deciding to make a carbonara.

"Do you want any help?" Nathan asked as he watched Haley fill a large pan with water.

Haley shook her head at him as she took a sip of her wine before placing it back down on the counter top. "No, I'm fine." She responded, placing a frying pan on the heat so that she could start cooking the pancetta.

"Alright. I'll be in the lounge, give me a shout if you need anything." Nathan said as he walked out of the lounge and sat down on the sofa, switching the channel to ESPN. He watched the basketball game that was showing, not really taking any interest because his mind had slipped to what he and Haley would be doing in a couple of hours. He didn't know what she wanted to do first. He thought it would be best if they started with something simple from her list rather than his but he had no idea really what her expectations were of tonight, or even of him. He ran his hand through his hair nervously, before deciding that he was over thinking this far too much. Wasn't it best just to let things happen of their own accord rather than try to force it to happen?

Haley had just finished boiling the fresh pasta and was draining the water in the sink. She picked up the colander and shook it a bit, getting rid of the excess water before placing the pasta back in the pan. She then threw in the remaining ingredients and mixed them all together, finding that her mind was wandering. She bit down on her lip nervously as she stirred, wondering if she should talk to Nathan about this evening. But what the hell would she say? 'What position did you fancy doing tonight?' or 'What list should we use, yours or mine?' She shook her head at herself. Why was she getting so worried about this? Everything had been fine last time, Nathan knew exactly how to make her feel at ease and she was sure that he would do exactly the same thing tonight. He was good like that; he always knew what to do to help calm her down.

She gave the pasta one more mix and then served it on the plates. She then grabbed some cutlery out of the drawer. "Nathan, it's ready, can you come and get your plate?" She called out to him as she picked up her own, a fork and a spoon and grabbed her wine glass.

Nathan walked into the kitchen and licked his lips as the delicious smell of the food swirled around him. "Smells great gorgeous." He said as he walked past her and picked up his plate of food together with his cutlery and followed her into the lounge. He handed her the remote, not wanting to argue with her about what they were going to watch tonight, he wasn't really concentrating on the game that was showing anyway.

Haley raised her eyebrows at him. "You're actually willingly handing me the remote?" She asked, completely surprised by this turn of events. Usually they argued for at least ten minutes about what program they were going to watch while they ate their dinner.

Nathan smiled back at her. "Just don't get used to it." He said as he dug his fork into the spaghetti and swirled some around before placing it in his mouth. "Mmm, it's delicious." He said before swallowing. "Thanks for cooking gorgeous."

Haley also took a bite of the food and swallowed it before answering him. "You're welcome, I'm glad you like it." She said as she switched the channel with the remote.

"It's amazing." Nathan said with another mouth full of food.

"Nathan stop talking with your mouth full." Haley chastised him as she rolled her eyes at his behaviour.

"What? I'm just complementing your cooking skills Hales." Nathan defended as he sat back in the chair and waited for her to settle on a channel, switching off completely because he knew that he would be finished with his food before she'd picked something for them to watch anyway.

Haley had settled on some game show and was having fun trying to guess the answers. She and Nathan had both finished their dinner and their plates were now on the coffee table. She was sat on the sofa with her legs curled under her, sipping on the last of her wine, waiting for the next question to come up. "It's a Christmas tree." She said.

Nathan furrowed his brow at her. "Why the hell would the answer be a Christmas tree?" Nathan questioned as he gulped down the rest of his wine.

"Because it's the right answer." Haley answered as she too swallowed the rest of the wine that was in her glass.

"Why would Norway give the people of London a Christmas tree each year?" Nathan continued to pick at her, she had to be wrong, a Christmas tree was the most absurd answer ever.

"They give the people of London a Christmas tree each year to thank Britain for the support they gave Norway during the war." Haley said matter of factly as she grabbed Nathan's wine glass from his hands. "Can you carry the plates into the kitchen?" She asked as she started to walk out of the room.

"Wait a second; I want to hear this answer because you have to be wrong." Nathan responded as he sat on the edge of his sofa and watched as Haley walked towards the kitchen. "Why aren't you waiting?" He asked as he turned his attention back to the TV.

"Because I already know I'm right." Haley shouted back to him as she started to run the water so that she could begin to wash up all the pots and pans that wouldn't fit in the dishwasher, and then turned around to find that Nathan had walked into the kitchen once she heard him turn the TV off. "Well?" She asked with a smug smile on her face as she folded her arms across her chest.

Nathan shook his head at her. "You were right." He said and the rolled his eyes as she proceeded to laugh at him.

"I told you." Haley said and then grabbed one of the pans from the stove and placed it in the sink, only to find that the spray from the tap was on too strong and she ended up getting completely soaked and she shrieked as the water sprayed all over the front of her top causing her to jump away from it.

"Nice one Hales." Nathan said as he laughed at her.

Haley turned around to face him which only caused him to laugh harder. "You think that's funny?" She challenged him as she grabbed one of the wine glasses that she had placed beside the sink and filled it with water. She then held the wine glass out in front of her and walked towards Nathan.

"Hales, gorgeous, don't do it." Nathan said as he held his hands out in front of him, hoping that if she did in fact soak him with the water that his hands would absorb most of the impact as he tried to move around the kitchen away from her. "You'll only regret it if you do."

"I don't think I will Nathan." Haley responded as she followed him around the kitchen with the glass still full of water held out in front of her.

"I promise you will regret it Hales, just put the damn glass down. I'm sorry I laughed at you for getting wet." Nathan pleaded with her, while also trying to sound deadly serious.

Haley smiled evilly at him. "You're sorry you laughed at me?" She asked.

"I am very sorry I laughed at you." Nathan responded, pleased that she seemed to be lowering the glass a little. "Very, very, very sorry." He continued and watched in satisfaction that the glass had been lowered some more.

Haley bit down on her lip and lowered the glass to her hip. She heard Nathan breath out a sigh of relief and couldn't resist it now that he thought he was safe. She threw the glass towards him and watched in satisfaction as the front of his t-shirt got wet. "Oops." She said as she smiled at him, noticing that his eyes were wide in complete shock at what she had just done.

"Oh no you didn't." Nathan responded, chuckling darkly at her as he turned around and grabbed a pint glass from the cupboard before walking towards the sink, switching the water to cold and then filling it up to the brim before switching the tap off.

Haley looked down at her small wine glass and then looked at the now full pint glass that was in his hands. "Nathan, come on, that's not fair." She pleaded with him, placing the wine glass down on the counter and holding her hands up in mock surrender, hopeful that he would take pity on her as she pouted at him. It usually worked.

"I told you you'd regret it Haley but you just didn't listen, did you?" Nathan said as he walked towards her like a hunter stalking its prey, smirking as Haley retreated further around the kitchen table. He made a dash for it and watched as she started to run around the table in a circle, but he quickly changed his direction and then caught her, chucking the pint glass of water right in her face.

Haley's mouth dropped open as she squeezed her eyes shut, the cold water shocking her into complete silence, until of course, she heard Nathan's laugh fill the silent room.

"Oh my God Hales, your face!" Nathan laughed as he closed his eyes and bent himself over his knees, trying to control his breathing as his laughter overtook his entire body.

Haley opened her eyes again, brushed her now soaking wet hair away from her face and huffed at him, only he didn't notice because he was now practically rolling around on the floor laughing at her. She glared at him before she opened the cupboard by the oven and grabbed her mixing bowl. He was going to pay big time for that stunt of his. She walked over to the tap and switched the cold water on, filling the mixing bowl to the brim, the steam practically coming out of her ears as Nathan's hollering and laughter continued to fill the room. She then walked behind him and tipped the whole bowl over his head, jumping out of the way as she did so to make sure that none of the water hit her in the process of it all falling onto Nathan and once all the water had gone, she placed the bowl on the counter, highly satisfied with her move, he was absolutely soaking wet now.

Nathan immediately stopped laughing. The water continued to pour down onto him and it was absolutely freezing, it felt like it was endless, where the hell was she getting all this water from? Once the water had finished cascading down onto him he stood up and turned around to face her, the water still dripping down his sopping wet back. "That wasn't very nice Hales." He said in a dangerously low voice.

Haley bit down on her lip. She didn't know what the hell he was going to do next but the tone of his voice almost made her shiver involuntarily. He sounded so menacing and all she could do was stand in front of him, rooted completely to the spot. She could see that his eyes had turned a much darker blue that the usual shining bright colour that they were and his breathing was deep and heavy. She backed away slightly, knowing that she should be running away from him but he had her locked in this enticing stare that she couldn't seem to break from, even if she had wanted to.

Nathan held her stare while he pondered a way to get her back. He could see her chest rising and falling rapidly, presumably she was trying to anticipate what he was going to do next but he didn't even have a clue himself, he just knew that he needed to get her back for that. It had felt like she had poured the whole of the River Nile onto his back, how the hell had a measly pint glass warranted a mixing bowl full of water? Suddenly, he got an idea and began to walk towards her.

Haley watched as Nathan walked towards her, an intimidating look covering his whole face and once again, she knew that she should at least try to run away but it was those damn eyes of his that had her completely hooked on him. Before she knew what was happening, Nathan had wrapped his arm around her waist and had thrown her over his shoulder. "What the hell are you doing?" She shouted as she tried to wiggle free from his grasp, sure that this couldn't be a good thing.

"Getting my own back." Nathan replied as he tightened his grip on her thighs so that she couldn't wiggle about any more and walked them both out of the kitchen and along the corridor.

Haley watched from her upside down position as Nathan started to walk them out of the kitchen. "Nathan put me down." She said in a stern voice, only he completely ignored her request and chuckled darkly at her. She scowled as she beat her fists on his back. "I said put me down Nathan." She shouted as she watched Nathan turn into the bathroom and then switch the light on. "Oh you've got to be kidding me." She said as she started to wiggle and pound on his back simultaneously, knowing exactly what he had planned for her.

Nathan smirked to himself as he walked towards the shower and switched it on, throwing Haley right underneath the spray as she shrieked at him loudly. "It's not cold is it?" He asked and he laughed wholeheartedly at her, seeing that she was staring down at the floor of the shower. He leaned his hands on to the tiles behind her, trapping her in so that she couldn't escape.

Haley couldn't believe that he'd done that to her. She brought her hands up to her matted hair and pushed it away from her face, breathing in deeply, trying to keep herself calm. The water had started to get warm, but Haley's rage was running right through her. She wiped the water from her eyes and straightened herself out, finding that she was unable to move given that Nathan had her trapped in with his hands.

Nathan stopped laughing when she stood up straight in front of him. His eyes looked all over her face and then lowered to her body, he could tell from her stance that she was incredibly pissed off at him but there was something else about her, whether it was the fact that the water was running all over her body, whether it was the fact that he had all this anticipation building up inside of him for what tonight would actually entail, he didn't know, but suddenly, water fights with Haley weren't as funny as they had been a second ago. He lifted his gaze up her body, appreciating the curves of her breasts, seeing her hardened nipples peeking through the material, and he had to tear his gaze away from them as he moved his eyes up to her shoulders before they rested on her neck and he found himself leaning towards it, unable to stop himself from wanting to taste her.

"You fucking…" Haley started but soon shut the hell up when she felt Nathan's mouth land on her neck. His kisses were soft and light, just as they had been last weekend and all thoughts of getting her own back on him, of shouting at him for getting her so wet completely drifted from her mind as she felt his arms wrap around her back and he stepped in closer to her so that he too was now standing under the shower spray. He pulled her in closer to his body and she automatically wrapped her hands around his neck as she leaned her neck to the side, giving him the access he needed to do more with his mouth, she needed him to do more, light kisses were not enough for her at the moment, she wanted to feel him properly on her skin.

Nathan felt Haley's hands wrap around his neck and she started to drag her fingernails over his skin. She had leaned her neck to the side a little more and he took it as an invitation for him to kiss her more forcefully on the neck. He moved his mouth along her skin, nipping and biting at it until he found her pulse point. He opened his mouth and felt the water cascading down her neck and he licked his way around the sensitive spot before closing his mouth on top of it, sucking lightly on her skin. His hands were at the small of her back, his fingers spread out as he pushed her body into his, wanting to feel as much of her as was possible.

God his mouth felt fucking fantastic. She moved her hands into his wet hair, grabbing fistfuls of it and she tugged on it, eliciting a low groan to fall from his mouth which she felt vibrate over her skin. She couldn't help but moan as she rested her head on his shoulder, feeling the water beat down on her head, happy to find that Nathan had such a strong grip on her body because she was sure that she would melt into a puddle and wash down the drain with the rest of the water if he ever let go of her.

Nathan was completely wrapped up in everything about her, especially the sounds she was making. She was arching her back into him and he could feel her hardened nipples poking him in the chest, and he couldn't fight it any more, he had to see her, he wanted to take her again like he had last Saturday. The sexual energy he was feeling was coursing through him relentlessly and his body was responding in the only way it knew how. But he had to make sure that she wanted this too. He needed to know that she was still okay with this, one last time. He moved his mouth up to her ear and found her earlobe, catching it between his teeth and tugging gently on it. He felt Haley's grip on his hair increase and she moaned loudly, her sounds echoing around in the shower, causing him to get even harder than he already was. God she sounded so damn sexy when she moaned like that.

Haley could feel him tugging on her ear and she had no idea why but it seemed to set something off inside of her. She was itching to get closer to him, even though her back was already arched into him as far as it could go; her entire body was pressed into him and yet somehow it didn't feel like it was enough. She could feel his cock poking her in the stomach and she wanted him to get inside of her right this instant. But of course, she'd never be able to tell him that, she just hoped that the noises she was making were letting him know what she wanted.

Nathan let go of her earlobe and then ran his tongue around the outer shell of her ear and then he pulled away slightly. "Number eight?" He whispered hotly in her ear as the water continued to rain down on top of them both.

Haley nodded her head and pulled his mouth back to her skin, wanting to feel him on her again, but he pulled away from her completely, holding her at arm's length as her arms fell limply to her sides. She looked up at him, confusion masking her features.

"I need you to say it Hales, I need to know this is exactly what you want." Nathan said as he stared into her deep brown eyes. He had to hear the words from her mouth, a simple nod from her would not suffice for him, not when they were about to overstep this huge boundary with each other. This was different to last weekend, this was them agreeing to constant sex with each other, and he wanted her to be sure and he needed to hear her consent to this arrangement for his own peace of mind.

Haley looked back into his blue eyes, completely understanding what he needed from her, and she was completely willing to give it to him. "I want this." She said quietly as she then bit down on her lip, still holding his gaze, letting him know that despite her embarrassment, she meant what she was saying.

Nathan breathed a quiet sigh of relief, if she had said no to this then he would've had to chuck her out of the shower right this instant and beat himself off, he was that desperate for a release. But now he knew that she wanted this, he forced himself to wait a little bit longer, after all, this was one of Haley's fantasies and he wanted to make sure it was an experience she wouldn't forget in a hurry. He ran his fingertips up to her shoulders and then trailed them down the side of her body, past her breasts and down to the edge of her soaking wet tank top. He moved his fingers underneath the top and traced along her skin with both of his hands, before gripping the material in his hands and then pulling it up towards her head. He dropped his eyes to her body, seeing her flat stomach become exposed to him, before he lifted the material further, exposing her breasts. Once he saw the bra she was wearing he practically ripped the top off her body. His eyes were completely transfixed on her and he threw the top into the corner of the shower in a big heap once he had got it over her head.

Haley lowered her gaze to the floor once her bra was revealed and her top had ended up in a pile in the corner, and she couldn't help the fact that she felt embarrassed and silly about wearing it now. It was Nathan for crying out loud, why the hell would he care what underwear she was wearing? She could feel his eyes boring into her and she didn't know what the hell to do, so she just stood there, getting redder and redder with each silent second that transpired between them.

Nathan brought his hand up to the corner where the strap of the bra met the cup of the bra and traced along the edge of it until he reached the centre, before moving his finger up the other side, repeating the same action. Her nipples were jutting out against the material and it didn't have any padding, so half of it was practically see through and he was fighting hard with the desire to just take one of her nipples in his mouth right this very second. "Is this new?" He asked, still unable to tear his gaze away from it.

Haley bit down on her lip. "Yes." She answered him simply, her voice not sounding half as strong as she had intended it to.

Nathan looked up at her in confusion upon hearing the tone of her voice, and he couldn't help but notice that she was bright red. "Haley, have you got any idea how sexy this bra is?" He asked her in a husky tone.

Haley looked up at him and frowned. "You like it?" She asked bewilderedly.

Nathan raised his eyebrows at her before lowering his mouth to her shoulder, placing a series of kisses on her skin as he reached around to her back and lightly glided his finger up her spine, feeling the water pushing against his hands as he did so. He eventually got to the clasp and then undid it expertly, before bringing both of his hands up to her shoulders, lifting his mouth away from her skin as he slipped the straps down her arms and threw the skimpy material down onto the floor. His mouth then moved down her chest towards her breast. "I fucking love it gorgeous." He said as he kissed his way down to the top of her breast. "But what's hidden underneath it is so much better." He muttered into her skin as his mouth skirted around her nipple and then moved to just underneath her breast as he placed a kiss on her skin, before dragging his tongue back up her breast to her nipple, running it around in a few languid circles before closing his mouth over her nipple and sucking it into his mouth, his ministrations causing Haley to moan deeply.

God did he have any fucking idea what he was doing to her? She was literally throbbing for him, she needed him inside of her right this second but it seemed that Nathan had other plans. She needed to get him off her nipple and fast because she could feel herself getting wetter and wetter and besides, he still had all his clothes on which really didn't seem fair. She wrapped her hands back in his hair and tugged him away from her breast and pulled him upright, needing to get him naked as quickly as she could. She reached down and peeled his drenched polo shirt off his body, throwing it nosily to the floor as her eyes feasted on the sight of his toned chest. She watched for a second as the water cascaded down his body, running in and out of the grooves of his muscles and she couldn't help but run her fingertip along some of the lines on his body, catching some of the water as she did so.

Nathan could see her watching him and it was turning him on far more than it should have. He felt her finger running down his chest and it was such a simple gesture, but that alone was causing his rock hard cock to twitch against his jeans. He needed to take back some of the control in this situation instead of standing there like a complete idiot. He grabbed a hold of her hand and stilled her motions as he stepped forward, closing the distance between them, using the other hand to unbutton her jeans. He then released his grip on her hand and peeled her jeans off her body, revealing the matching lace panties that went with the bra. "Fuck Hales." He moaned as his eyes latched onto the lace.

Haley stepped out of her jeans and watched as Nathan hooked two of his fingers into the waistband of her panties, lowering them down to her knees, so she brought her left foot up and dragged them down the rest of her leg and stepped out of them, kicking them to the side of where she was standing. She felt completely and totally exposed, especially given that the light was on this time, whereas last Saturday they had been bathed in darkness, but despite her reservations, she also felt incredibly safe with Nathan.

She really was beautiful. He knew that she was his best friend but she really was stunningly beautiful, there was no other way for him to describe her. He lowered his mouth to her neck as one of his hands trailed down her body, over her hip before slipping down to her thigh. He nudged her legs apart with his knee as his mouth worked down her neck, leaving hot, wet kisses over her skin as the steam from the water swirled around them. He then moved his hand up her inner thigh and dragged his finger slowly up her soaking wet slit, moaning into her skin at how ready she was for him, at how much she appeared to want this.

Haley felt his finger trail up her slit until he reached her clit, and he lightly grazed his middle finger right over it, causing her to gasp. She wrapped her hands around his neck and tightened her grip on him, needing something to hold onto. She desperately wanted him inside of her; she didn't care what part of him that was at this point, her whole body was screaming for a release of some sorts. She felt his finger trail back down her slit and he circled her entrance a couple of times, and she wiggled around a little, hoping that he would slip inside of her but he moved his hands back up her slit again.

Nathan chuckled into her skin when she let out a groan of complete frustration. He found the sensitive spot of her neck just below her ear and licked his way around it before leaving a kiss on her skin. "What do you want gorgeous?" He muttered, wanting to hear her say it, she had been far too quiet last weekend, it was due to a lack of confidence he was sure.

Haley moaned at him. How the hell could he not know what she wanted from him right now? His hands were back at her entrance, running in ridiculously slow circles and she needed them inside of her. But she couldn't say the words; she was far too embarrassed to ask something like that of him.

Nathan sighed softly into her skin, deciding to make it a little easier for her, this time at least. He moved his mouth up her neck and found her jaw line, before pulling away and resting his forehead against hers. Haley's breathing was deep and uneven, his matching hers, he was so turned on from just touching her, the anticipation of having sex with her again had warped his brain ever since this arrangement had been set up, aside from the obvious worry, and knowing that he was only an inch away from doing that had his mind working in overtime. "Do you want me to make you come?" He asked in a gravelly voice as his fingers continued to circle her entrance.

"Mmmm." Haley moaned as she closed her eyes, still not being able to say the words.

Nathan increased the pressure of his fingers, slipping one of them just inside of her, enough to earn a sharp gasp from Haley before he withdrew it. "Tell me what you want." He demanded.

Haley bit down on her lip and opened her eyes, finding his intense blue eyes staring right at her. "I want you to make me come." She said to him quietly and timidly, though needing to find that release that she so desperately craved.

Nathan smirked at her as he pushed two of his fingers inside of her while simultaneously pushing her back against the tiled wall, his fingers gliding into her easily, and he pulled his forehead away from her as he did so. He felt Haley rise up onto her tiptoes and gasp, trying to get him to go deeper. He withdrew his fingers from her and added a third, stretching her slightly, feeling just how tight she was. Once his fingers were all the way inside of her, he curled them up at the ends and dragged them along her upper wall, searching for that sweet spot of hers; the one that he knew would bring her so much pleasure.

Haley could feel his fingers moving along inside of her and she wondered what the hell he was doing. He was moving them so slowly, it was absolute torture, but then, his fingers grazed over something which caused her to gasp and she felt every single muscle in her body tighten as her hips jutted forward into him.

Nathan could feel her tighten up around his fingers and couldn't help but smirk at her again. He moved his fingers in and out of her then, being sure to hit that same spot repeatedly. He could hear that her breathing had become completely erratic and as he increased the speed that his fingers were entering and withdrawing from her, he could feel her inner muscles clenching around his fingers. He watched her as he continued his ministrations, wondering what she would look like when she came. Her eyes were squeezed shut tightly but he wanted to see her. "Open your eyes gorgeous." He said as he continued to move his fingers in and out of her.

Haley had to force her eyes open and when she did she was met with Nathan's intense stare. She felt his fingers move in and out of her one last time before this overwhelming shudder overcame her entire body, the force of her orgasm ripping through her, completely blocking out any other thought other than that of the deep pleasure that was running through her whole being.

Nathan slowed down his motions, letting Haley ride out her orgasm, and watching her come like that from his touch only fuelled his desire to be inside of her properly even more than it had been running through him previously. He released his fingers from her and made quick work of unbuttoning his jeans, pulling his boxers down his body with his jeans as he kicked them off his body, freeing his incredibly hard cock from the confines it had been trapped in. As good as it felt to have her come from his hand; he knew that feeling her come around his cock was even fucking better.

Haley moved her eyes down Nathan's body as he stood up from taking off his jeans and his boxers. Her eyes ran down his toned chest, over his phenomenal abs until they landed on his rock hard cock and she couldn't help but stare at him. Before she knew what was happening, Nathan had moved towards her again, and she lifted her gaze back up his body towards his face as she felt his fingertips run down the centre of her chest and along her stomach until they settled on her hips. The water was still cascading around them and as he moved closer to her his scent swirled around her, drawing her closer to him. She felt his hands move down her thighs and she hopped up, wrapping her legs around his waist as he rested his hands on the back of her thighs, supporting her weight as she leaned her back against the wall, feeling the cool tiles press against her back, a huge contrast to the warmth of both the water and Nathan's body which was pressed up against the front of her. She leaned herself forward tentatively and pressed her lips to the skin of his neck lightly as her hands wrapped around the back of his neck.

Nathan closed his eyes the second her mouth landed on his skin. She hadn't kissed him last Saturday when they'd had sex, and of course, she'd kissed his cheek in that friendly kind of way that they kissed each other more than a thousand times before, but this felt completely different. Her mouth felt so soft and gentle against his skin and he couldn't help but groan at the fire that started to burn deep inside of him from her touch. He then felt Haley's mouth land more forcefully on his skin, and she started to leave a trail of open-mouthed kisses along his neck, before she snuck her tongue out in between her lips and trailed it around his pulse point and then sucked down on his skin, and Jesus Christ that felt amazing. He knew that he couldn't take waiting any longer; he needed to be inside of her right this instant, so he bent his knees and released his right hand from its grip on her thigh and found his cock, and guided it towards her entrance, pushing himself inside of her.

Haley gasped into his skin when she felt him enter her and closed her eyes as she felt him slide all the way inside of her. She continued to move her mouth over his neck, enjoying the feel of the roughness of his stubble against the softness of her lips. She used her tongue to move across his skin which earned a low groan to fall from Nathan's mouth as she felt the water move along his skin with her. She then felt him begin to move himself in and out of her and she tightened the grip of her legs around his waist, pulling him in closer to her.

God her tongue felt so fucking good against his skin. He upped the pace of his thrusts slightly, feeling himself moving in and out of her tightness as she wrapped herself around him tighter, digging the heels of her feet into his ass. He chuckled at her quietly. "You want it faster?" He asked in a husky voice and in response to his question he felt Haley moan and nod her head against his neck. He would have asked her to answer him properly but her mouth felt so good on his skin he didn't really want her to remove it from him. He slipped his hands from her thighs and rested them by the side of her shoulders against the wall as he bent his knees and thrust up into her, the new angle allowing him to go even deeper than he had before; he needed to place his hands against the wall for extra leverage.

"Fuck!" Haley gasped as she removed her mouth from his neck and rested it against his shoulder, needing to find some oxygen quickly. She felt him withdraw from her and then he slammed himself back into her, causing her back to slide up the wall with the force of his thrust. She couldn't think straight, he was going so deep inside of her, filling her completely and it just felt fucking amazing. She moved her hands to his shoulders and dug her nails into his skin with each of his thrusts. "God Nathan." She cried out when she felt him angle his hips again and hit that same spot he had touched with his fingers earlier.

Hearing her scream out his name like that made this fire rush through his entire body. He upped the pace of his thrusts even more and pulled himself away from her body slightly, wanting to watch the pleasure on her face, he wanted to see what he was doing to her. He couldn't believe how different she was this time, granted she wasn't as outgoing with him as he would have liked but the shy girl he'd had sex with last weekend seemed to be coming out of her shell a bit more, which he only saw as a good thing. His eyes moved over her face, her lips were parted slightly and her breathing was sharp and fast, and as if she sensed that he was looking at her, her eyes fluttered open as she stared back at him. He kept his gaze locked with hers as he continued to thrust into her, the force of his actions causing her to slide up and down the wall of the shower with each movement of his hips.

Haley couldn't tear her gaze from him at all, his eyes were so captivating, they drew her into him completely and all she could feel were the increased movements of him thrusting in and then pulling out of her, and all she could see were his intense blue eyes boring into her. She could hear their breathing, both she and Nathan were gasping for breath, along with her moaning softly which was echoing off the enclosure and she heard the occasional grunt come from Nathan. As he upped the pace of his actions once more, she raked her nails over his skin until her hands were at the top of his back, and then she moved one of her hands into his hair, feeling that tingling sensation build up inside of her once more. She tightened her inner muscles as he entered her again. "Nathan…" She moaned deeply.

"Oh fuck Hales." Nathan groaned when he felt her tighten around his length. She was already tight enough and her doing that made his cock feel so fucking good. He felt her breathing quicken yet again and her body started to shudder and her muscles clenched around his cock frantically as he felt her orgasm wash over her. He continued to drive into her at a furious pace, before stilling his movements and leaning his head on the wall above her shoulder as he found his own release.

Haley loosened the vice-like grip she had on him as she rested her hands behind his neck and rested her body against the cool wall behind her, her breathing still completely out of control. She felt Nathan pull back from where his head had been resting on the wall and he placed a kiss on her shoulder before he pulled himself out of her and then she released her thighs from his body and sunk down onto the floor, still clinging onto his neck. She smiled up at him shyly as she let go of his neck.

Nathan smiled back down at her before he moved himself underneath the spray again, giving himself a quick wash, before moving out of the way and letting Haley do the same. He watched as her lilac loofah moved over her skin, the shower gel trailing over her body before dropping onto the floor and getting washed down the drain with the rest of the water. "So that's the second thing you can tick off the list gorgeous." He said once Haley had turned the shower off.

Haley turned around to him and smiled, feeling rather pleased that she had began to work her way through her list. She watched as Nathan stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around his waist, before holding out a towel for Haley to step into. "It is." She responded. "Are you ever going to tell me what's on your list?" She asked as she turned around and followed Nathan out of the bathroom, before turning back around, remembering the clothes that were still sat in the shower.

Nathan turned around when he didn't hear Haley following him and sighed. "Leave the clothes Hales; we'll get them in the morning." He said and then chuckled to himself when she turned round and scowled at him as she walked away from their soaking wet clothes. "And the answer to your question is no, I'm not going to tell you what's on my list, I'll leave it as a surprise. But maybe we'll tick one of mine off next week." He said as he walked past Haley's room and continued down the corridor to his own. He turned around when he got to his door and saw Haley standing at hers as she bit down on her lip. He frowned at her for a second, before continuing to talk to her. "If you still want to keep up the arrangement, that is?" He asked.

Haley bit down on her lip as she pondered Nathan's words, her mind once again reeling about what was written on that damn list of his. She was going to have to try to get her hands on it one way or another; didn't she need to know what his fantasies were before she agreed to participating in them? But then again, wouldn't it be more exciting for her if she didn't know what he wanted to do with her? "I still want to do it Nathan." She replied in a determined tone as she released her grip on her lip.

"Good, so do I." Nathan returned with a smile. He then watched as Haley put her hand on the doorknob to her room and twisted it. "Goodnight gorgeous, see you in the morning." He said softly to her.

"Goodnight Nathan, sleep well." Haley returned as she walked into her bedroom, flicked on the light and headed straight for the drawer where her notebook was currently residing. She grabbed a pen and placed an incredibly satisfying tick next to number eight. She cast her eyes quickly over the whole of her list and bit down on her lip in excitement before she closed the notebook and placed it back safely in her drawer. They still had a hell of a long way to go but she was more than happy with the way things were currently headed, especially as she was sure that things weren't going to change between them. Nathan had, of course been right about this whole thing not changing them. In all honesty, she shouldn't have ever doubted him, when it came to her and their friendship, he never had been wrong.

**AN – So the list ticking has begun. And what part do we think Ryan and Sarah are going to play in all this?**

**Please do let me know what you thought of the chapter by dropping me a review.**

**A preview of the next chapter will be available to those of you that want it, just let me know in a review if you do want it and I shall get it out to you ASAP.**

**As for a posting a picture teaser for the next chapter on the blog, I should be posting something soonish too so keep a look out for that.**


	5. Chapter 5

**AN – Thank you all so much for the reviews of the previous chapter!**

**Big, big thanks to Rebecca, Madison and Kristen for all their help with this chapter.**

**Hope you all enjoy the update!**

**Chapter Five**

"Hales…" Nathan called down the corridor from where he was currently standing in the kitchen. He waited a moment before shouting once more. "Haley!" He tried again but still heard no movement coming from down the corridor, indicating that she was ignoring him. He sighed and shook his head as he placed the spatula down on the countertop and tossed the pancake he had been making onto one of the stacks which was standing on the plate he had placed next to the stove. He turned off the heat and then walked down the corridor towards Haley's room, knocking on her door softly once he had reached it.

Haley groaned and buried her head underneath her pillow. She'd heard Nathan the first time he had called her name but she had ignored him in the hope that he would leave her to sleep. As far as she was aware, it was Sunday and therefore the fact that he was waking her up was just inexcusable. Didn't everyone know that Sunday's were built for sleeping in? Wasn't there some unwritten rule stating that very fact? Actually she was sure the rule related to undisturbed lie-ins at that and therefore the very fact that Nathan had even had the nerve to wake her up should be enough to make her want to get up and shout at him for doing so, and she would have, if her bed wasn't so comfy and warm. She heard him call her name a second time and she growled into her pillow, waiting for him to shout a third time but she was met with nothing but blissful silence, and so she snuck her head out from underneath the pillow and lay on it properly, smiling lazily to herself as she tried to drift back to sleep. Just as she was about to fall back to sleep, she heard him begin to knock on her door, disturbing her almost slumber. "Get lost Nathan." She shouted angrily at him.

Nathan chuckled to himself at her charming words and also at the tone of her voice. "Come on gorgeous, get up." He said through the closed door as he folded his arms and waited outside her room for her to appear.

"No." Haley responded and curled herself up in her duvet, trying her best to keep her eyes clenched shut. If they stayed closed she might actually have a chance of being able to fall back to sleep. She knew that she was clutching on short straws because in all honesty, if Nathan wanted her up, then he somehow always managed to get her up, but still, she always tried to get some more sleep, not that it ever happened.

Nathan rolled his eyes at her sharp and brief response to his request. "Hales you can either get up now by yourself or in one minute I will come in there and get you up my way. It's your choice." He threatened. He knew, of course, that he was going to have to get her up himself but one of these days she might surprise him and actually get up within the minute he usually allotted to her.

Haley rolled around in the duvet, wrapping it around her body like a cocoon in preparation for what she knew was coming. She grinned into her pillow, knowing that Nathan was probably getting incredibly impatient with her by now, but seriously, it was Sunday and she already knew without looking at the clock that it was far too early for her to be up. Not everyone was a freaky morning person like Nathan. In fact, she was sure that he was just simply a lone freak when it came to that side of him.

"Thirty seconds left gorgeous." Nathan warned as he stepped closer to her door and pressed his ear up against it, sighing deeply when he heard no sounds coming from her room whatsoever, which meant that she was still lying in bed. How she could just lie in bed like she did, wasting the day was completely ridiculous as far as he was concerned. And besides, he'd made pancakes, so she was going to have to get up whether she wanted to or not.

Haley made sure that she had a good grip on the top of the duvet, her fingers poking out over the edge as she waited with baited breath for him to burst through her door and force her out of bed. She knew exactly what was coming, and she was going to make sure that he'd have to work damn hard to get her up if that was his true intention. All she wanted was to sleep. Sleep was precious to her, very precious, and he had disturbed that, so she wasn't going to give in to his demands easily. No way. He was going to have a fight on his hands, much like he did each time he pulled this stupid stunt of his. Didn't he understand that she would get up when she was ready to?

Nathan rolled his eyes in agitation. He knew that she wasn't a morning person but still, he'd given her a minute to get out here. But she hadn't come out which meant that he was going to have to go in. Again. "You've had your minute Hales." He said as he placed his hand on her doorknob and twisted it before walking into her room. He raised his eyebrow at her, she was lying in the bed with the covers all tangled underneath her, and she was facing away from him towards the window. He walked straight over to the curtains and pulled them open, keeping a watchful eye on Haley, who flinched at the assault of sunlight which had just appeared in her room. "Are you going to get up gorgeous?" He asked in a silky smooth voice as he walked to the foot of her bed, giving her one last chance to comply, not that she'd take it, he already knew that much.

Haley shook her head into the pillow and tightened her grip on the duvet once more. Her eyes were still shut firmly but she could tell from the light change that Nathan had opened her curtains. She hated it when he did that. She knew now that we she finally did get around to opening her eyes that she would be met with the painfully blinding light, and she really didn't want to have to deal with that yet. "Close the curtains Nathan." She moaned, her voice muffled slightly by the pillow she was currently digging her head into.

"No Hales, come on, you need to get up." Nathan chided her as he folded his arms over his chest and shook his head at the vision that was in front of him. She was a nightmare when it came to leaving her bed.

"Why do I need to get up Nathan?" Haley whined. "Give me one good reason as to why you deemed it reasonable for you to come in here at God knows what hour and wake me up. It's Sunday!"

"Hales, it's already ten o'clock in the morning!" Nathan returned incredulously.

"Exactly, I should still be sleeping not having silly conversations with you." Haley mumbled into the pillow.

"Come on gorgeous, please get up." Nathan pleaded with her. "I made pancakes…" He continued, trying to tempt her with her favourite breakfast food. He had a pile of work he needed to get a start on today but he wanted to make sure Haley ate something before he locked himself away for the day.

"I don't want pancakes." Haley responded.

"Yes you do." Nathan returned, before sighing to himself. She hadn't moved an inch and was still wrapped up in the covers. He knew exactly what he was going to have to do, and he also knew that Haley wouldn't like it but that didn't really matter at the moment.

"I don't want pancakes Nathan, all I want to do is sleep, please leave me alone." Haley pleaded with him, knowing that she was just wasting her breath but that didn't matter to her when there was the smallest chance, albeit minute, that he might just allow her to rest for a little bit longer.

"Is your bed really warm?" Nathan asked as he unfolded his arms and prepared himself for his stealthy attack on her duvet. How they hadn't ripped her covers before was a miracle as far as he was concerned, but his method had been tried and tested plenty of times previously and it had always worked, he often wondered why she put up such a fight with him when she already knew that she was going to lose in the end.

"Mmmm." Haley hummed back to him as she smiled into her pillow, hoping that the soft tone of Nathan's voice would mean that he was going to allow her to sleep for a little bit longer.

Nathan chuckled darkly at her as he watched the smile flitter over her face. "You don't seriously think I'm going to let you lie in any longer than you already have done, do you?" He asked.

Haley sighed. "Come on Nathan…" She whined. "Please?"

"Sorry gorgeous." Nathan responded with no hint of an apology present in the tone of his voice whatsoever as he scooped her legs up in the air and unravelled what he could of the duvet, grabbing it with both his hands when he eventually found the ends and spread his arms out as wide as he could get them.

"Nathan!" Haley yelled as she felt the cold air rush underneath the covers. She felt him begin to pull and shake on the duvet so harshly that she started to move down the bed with him. She could feel her grip on the covers begin to falter, it was so damn unfair that he did this to her when he was so much stronger than her. She opened her eyes, momentarily blinded by the light shining through her window before adjusting her eyes and found that she caught a glimpse of Nathan's smug grin and sighed to herself. What the hell was the point in her even trying to fight him when he was going to win anyway? She released her grip on the duvet and giggled when Nathan stumbled backwards as he didn't expect there to be no force working against him as he pulled, just managing to regain his balance before he fell down to the floor. She then rolled herself out of bed, still giggling to herself.

"Stop laughing at me Hales." Nathan said grumpily as he watched Haley stand up right. "I got you out of bed didn't I?"

"Well you stumbling like that kind of made up for the whole waking me up thing." Haley returned as she straightened out her top and then walked out of her room towards the kitchen. "How many pancakes did you make?" She asked as she walked along the corridor.

Nathan shook his head at her as he threw her duvet back onto her bed and followed her out into the hallway. He would have asked her why she had bothered to put up such a fight only to then concede so easily but it wasn't worth the aggravation he knew would ensue. "Eight." He answered her.

"Yum." Haley responded as she walked into the kitchen and dug out the cutlery for them both as well as the syrup and then sat down at the table, waiting for Nathan to place the pancakes in front of her.

Ten minutes later, Haley was still chomping her way through her last pancake, Nathan having already finished his own stack. He shook his head at her as she smiled wildly at him, opening her mouth to place the last piece of pancake in her mouth. "You done?" He asked, secretly pleased that she had finished it all.

"Mmmm, so full." Haley responded as she slumped back down in her chair and watched as Nathan took her plate as well as his and placed them both in the sink, running the warm water over them so that they could soak for a while. "Thanks for breakfast." She said as Nathan came back to the table and sat back in his chair.

"You're welcome gorgeous. So what are you doing today?" Nathan asked as he took a sip of his coffee.

Haley swallowed the pancake she still had in her mouth and then turned to look at Nathan. "I'm just going to do a bit of shopping later on." She lied. She had her gym induction this afternoon but she didn't feel comfortable telling Nathan about it just yet, not when he had only reminded her of his aversion to her current eating habits on Friday night at the bar. She wanted to give him some time to realise that she was in fact eating healthily and then she'd tell him, she really didn't want him worrying about her anymore than he did already. She quickly diverted the subject back to him so that she wouldn't have to lie to him anymore than she already had. "How about you, what are you doing today?" She asked.

Nathan sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. "Working." He returned, sounding completely unenthused at the prospect of his exciting day.

Haley immediately narrowed her eyes at him and folded her arms across her chest.

Nathan rolled his eyes at the look Haley was currently giving him. "Don't look at me like that gorgeous." He pleaded with her.

"Nathan it's Sunday and you've been working like crazy this past week, how the hell can you have even more to do?" Haley asked, instantly feeling incredibly worried about how stressed out he must be feeling, he'd barely taken a break from work this past week, as she had so told him on Friday night.

"Hales, you know that I landed that account, and I can't afford for it not to be perfect." Nathan returned, defending the nonexistent work-life balance he was dealing with at the moment.

"You also can't afford to work like this Nathan." Haley replied, the worry she felt for him clearly evident in the tone of her voice.

Nathan sighed heavily. "Please don't worry about me gorgeous, honestly, it's fine, I can handle it, I swear."

"Fine, but I hope you don't plan on continuing these crazy hours this week too." Haley said as she unfolded her arms and rested her hands on the table, trying to strike a deal with him.

"I won't if I can help it. Working today will probably help with that." Nathan responded as he gulped down the rest of his coffee and then stood up from the table.

"It had better help Nathan." Haley replied, warning lacing each of her words, she wasn't going to have him working like crazy two weeks in a row.

Nathan chuckled at her as he placed a kiss on the top of her head. "I'm going to lock myself away in the study for a while gorgeous. Have fun shopping okay? Don't go buying any ridiculously expensive shoes though." He threw over his shoulder as he walked out of the kitchen, ready to start a gruelling, practically full day of work on a Sunday.

~*~

Haley arrived at the gym ten minutes earlier than when her induction session with Ryan was scheduled. She waited in the reception area of the gym and found herself looking at the notice board that was pinned up on the wall. She cast her eyes over the activity timetable, thinking back to some of the things Ryan had suggested to her when she had last seen him, reminding herself to ask what he thought would be best for her to participate in, given that she wouldn't be able to fit in everything he had suggested. She then moved further along the notice board, gazing at the leaflets and posters that had been placed on the board.

"You fancy entering?" Ryan asked as he sneaked up behind her.

Haley jumped in surprise as she hadn't heard Ryan approach her and she then turned around to face him. "Jesus Ryan! You scared the hell out of me." She said as she held her hand up to her now rapidly beating heart.

"Sorry, didn't mean to Haley." Ryan returned with a smile.

Haley smiled back at him. "Given that my heart is beating ridiculously fast, does that count as one of my exercise sessions for the week?"

Ryan chuckled at her. "Not a chance. So how about it?"

"How about what?" Haley asked, confused as to what he was talking to her about.

"The marathon." Ryan responded as he nodded towards the notice that he had presumed Haley had been reading when he had found her in the reception area.

Haley looked at him incredulously for a moment before bursting out laughing.

Ryan scrunched his eyebrows together, not understanding what she found so funny. It had been a legitimate question. "What?" He asked.

Haley had to hold onto her stomach she was laughing so hard, the vision of her attempting to run for even a mile causing her eyes to water. She managed to get a hold of herself eventually. "You're kidding right?" She asked.

"No, why not? The marathon is a great thing to focus your training on. And you'd be able to do it for charity, help raise money for a great cause." Ryan returned.

Haley raised her eyebrow at him. "You haven't seen me run yet, have you?" She asked.

"No…" Ryan replied, wondering where she was going with this. Running was easy, a toddler could run so what the hell was she going on about?

"Well I guess in about ten minutes or so you'll understand why I laughed so much at your preposterous idea." Haley returned.

"Okay…" Ryan replied as he shook his head at her, finding himself incredibly confused all of a sudden. "So, why don't we head on through, I'll show you where the changing rooms are and then I'll meet you by the gym, sound good?"

"Sure." Haley said as she walked through the barrier and followed Ryan up the stairs until they got to the changing rooms.

"I'll be waiting over there." Ryan said as he pointed to a set of double doors across the vast space.

"Okay." Haley replied as she walked into the changing room and changed into her new gym clothes.

Five minutes later, Haley walked out of the changing rooms and looked over to where Ryan had said he would be waiting for her. She would have completely missed him had he not been so tall because a swarm of women were surrounding him. He was laughing and joking with them all and as she approached him, he turned his head and winked at her, before wading through the invisible circle the women had created around him and headed towards where she was standing. "I bet you gave every single one of them three months free instead of two." Haley teased him.

Ryan chuckled at Haley as he walked them both towards the gym. "I already told you, I only do that for the pretty women." He said as he punched in the code and held the door open for Haley to walk through first, taking the opportunity of her having her back to him to run his eyes briefly over her body, which he fully appreciated in her tight gym clothes.

Haley walked through the door before turning back to look at him. "And…" She said.

Ryan smirked at her and lowered his mouth down to her ear. "None of them are pretty." He said in a low voice in her ear.

Haley turned her head and looked up at him. "Ryan you can't say things like that!" She admonished him.

"Sure I can, especially when it's the truth, and besides, I know you won't tell anyone." Ryan returned with a cheeky grin, before changing the subject. "So you said you wanted to tone up, right?"

Haley shook her head at him playfully, before following him further into the gym. He was heading in the direction of some weight machines. "Erm, well I also wanted to improve my stamina and endurance." She responded as she thought about being unable to walk up the damn stairs to the apartment and then nearly crashed into Ryan as he turned suddenly and began walking in the opposite direction.

"Sorry Haley." Ryan said as he walked past her. "Come on." He said as he led them both towards the cardio machines.

Haley followed him through the gym, looking around as they walked past some of the machines he had explained to her last week, barely remembering what each of them was supposed to do. He then stopped abruptly in front of a treadmill. "Oh no." She said as she shook her head and looked up at Ryan, knowing exactly what this machine was used for.

Ryan raised his eyebrow at her. "Oh yes." He returned cheekily, with a smile on his face.

"Ryan, I can't use this thing." Haley said in a quiet voice, not wanting anyone to hear her, or see her inept ability to run. She'd come to the gym to get fit, not to be a laughing stock for everyone.

"Sure you can, it's easy. Jump on and I'll show you how." He said as he stood to the side of the machine and waited for Haley to step onto the belt.

Haley scowled at him, which lead to another chuckle escaping from his mouth as she stepped on the machine, folding her arms over her chest. "Why are we using this machine?" She asked.

"You said you wanted to work on your stamina and endurance, this helps with that. Much like running a marathon…" Ryan said suggestively.

"I'm not doing the marathon." Haley returned quickly, wanting to squash that idea before he'd even had a chance to say or think anything else about it.

"We'll see about that." Ryan returned with a smirk and then proceeded to show Haley what each of the buttons did, before switching the machine on at a low pace. He then upped the speed and the incline slightly until Haley was walking extremely quickly to keep up with the pace of the belt. "Okay, now start jogging."

Haley started jogging and when she finally had a rhythm going, Ryan upped the pace significantly so that she had to properly run on the machine. She felt herself getting out of breath as she continued to run, the sweat beginning to form on her forehead. Ryan was watching her from the side of the machine which she didn't think was very fair, how come he got to stand there doing nothing while she was working up a sweat? She pressed the stop button that he had pointed out earlier and felt the belt begin to slow down. Once it had stopped she placed her hands on her hips, her breathing deep as she tried to regain control of the pace of her breaths. "This… this isn't fair." She managed to get out.

"What's not fair?" Ryan asked as his eyes ran quickly over her body before returning them to her face. She was a feisty one, this one, and he liked that, usually girls were falling all over him, but Haley was different.

"You're doing nothing!" Haley cried out incredulously.

Ryan laughed at her as he held out his hand, helping her off the machine. "I'm not supposed to be working out here Haley; I'm supposed to be showing you how to use the machines."

"Well it's still not fair." Haley replied. "And I told you I can't run, which you now have visual proof of, so you can forget any ideas you have of me running the damn marathon."

"You looked fine from where I was standing Haley; I really think you should consider it. It would be a really good thing for you to work towards, and besides, its ages away so you'll have plenty of time to train for it. And like I said before, you wanted to work on your stamina and endurance; nothing says both of those things clearer than a good old twenty six mile run." Ryan returned, doing his best to persuade her otherwise.

Haley pondered whether she could actually run for twenty six miles straight as Ryan walked them through the gym towards the weights, before he shook her from her reverie as he stopped in front of one of the weight machines and started to explain what she was supposed to do with it.

"Okay, so this machine is really good for the legs." Ryan said as he pointed at the picture on the side of the machine, pointing out exactly where the weights would be working her muscles.

"Right." Haley responded as she looked at the rather daunting machine with worry. How the hell were you supposed to even get on this thing?

Ryan smiled at the expression on her face. "Do you want me to show you how to use it?" He asked.

Haley looked over at him and noticed the smile that was spread across his face. "Oh so you mean you're actually going to do something rather than standing around trying to look pretty." She returned with a teasing smile of her own. She glanced around the gym quickly, unable to shake the feeling that she had a thousand pairs of eyes on her body, but then she quickly turned back to Ryan when she heard him chuckle at her.

Ryan laughed at her as he adjusted the weight on the side of the machine before lying back on the cushion, bringing his legs up so that they were lying flat against the board. "Okay, so you need to make sure your legs are about shoulder width apart and are flat against the surface, and then you need to push forwards, but don't lock your knees, and then slowly pull your legs back." He explained as he showed her how to use the machine. He repeated the action once again. "Right, now you try." He said as he got up from the machine and stepped next to Haley, leaning down so that his mouth was level with her ear. "And for the record, I don't need to try to look pretty, but thanks for the compliment."

Haley could feel the blush begin to spread to her cheeks. Had she called him pretty? Oh God, how embarrassing! She bit down on her lip as she lowered herself onto her back, wondering if he was flirting with her. She wasn't sure what the hell was going on in all honesty, did she want him to flirt with her? She furrowed her brow as she tried to dismiss those thoughts from her head and then placed her feet on the board in front of her, shoulder width apart like he had shown her. She then pushed her legs forward and eventually felt her skin cool down to a more normal temperature. She cleared her throat, wanting to guide the conversation back to move neutral territory. "So how would you train for the marathon then?" She asked.

"Running mostly." Ryan returned as he watched her push the board against the weight. "Okay stop there, remember you don't want to lock your knees. And then slowly bring your legs back towards you."

Haley could feel herself blushing again. Had she really just asked how you would train for a marathon? Jesus Christ. She felt her legs go back into the position they had started in and she began to push back on the weight again. "I don't think I'd even be able to manage running one mile, let alone twenty six."

"Well you wouldn't start off running the whole lot, you'd start off slowly and build up the miles as the weeks or months go by, that's why it's the perfect time to start training for it now." Ryan said.

"Are you running it?" Haley asked.

"I am." Ryan returned as he continued to check that Haley was using the machine properly.

Haley continued to use the machine as Ryan had instructed. Running the marathon really would be an incredible achievement for her to accomplish but she just didn't know if she would have the determination or the interest to train for that long.

Ryan could see that she was thinking about it, which he decided to use to his full advantage. "I'll tell you what, I haven't started training myself yet, but why don't you enter and we'll train together, maybe starting next week, and if after a month you don't feel like doing it then you can stop. I promise I won't hold it against you." He said, really hoping that she would say yes as he found himself wanting to spend more time with her, especially outside of the confines of the gym, where every single woman currently in here was shooting daggers at Haley for hogging his time.

Haley turned her head to the side and looked up at Ryan who was smiling down at her. She bit down on her lip, wondering if she could really do this, wondering if she should do this at all. Wouldn't she be agreeing to spend a regular amount of time with him for company? Would that be such a bad thing? "I'd like that." She said as she smiled at him shyly, seeing his smile get that little bit wider, unable to shake the feeling that she was agreeing to something slightly more than just gaining a training partner.

~*~

The week had dragged on endlessly for Haley. It was now Saturday afternoon, and she had slept in until one o'clock after having returned to the apartment alone at eleven thirty last night after the usual Friday meet up with the gang, only Nathan hadn't showed because he had to work. It had been the same story all throughout the week; she would receive an e-mail from him at around four o'clock letting her know that he would be working late. And by late he didn't mean seven, he meant some time after eleven. She only knew that he had been working past that time because at eleven she would give up waiting for him and head to bed, so in reality it was probably closer to midnight or possibly an even worse time that he was currently working until. And just like last week, he was out the door before she'd even woken up in the mornings. She had missed him. But thankfully his absence had meant that she had used the gym every single day this past week, even fitting in an hour's workout before meeting up with Brooke and everyone yesterday, which she was very proud of.

She wandered along the corridor towards the kitchen, wanting to find those cupcakes she had bought for her and Nathan during her lunch break yesterday and passed the study, finding Nathan hunched over the desk. Her mouth dropped open at the sight of him working again. "Nathan what the hell do you think you're doing?" She asked as she walked into the room and perched herself on the edge of the desk.

"Good morning gorgeous." Nathan mumbled as he continued to sketch an idea that had been mulling around in his head all morning.

"Actually it's the afternoon." Haley returned. "And you didn't answer my question."

Nathan glanced up briefly and noticed the time on the clock that was hanging on the wall, praying that she had been making some kind of mistake in her observation. "Shit." He grumbled as he saw that it was in fact one o'clock in the afternoon. Where the hell had the morning gone?

Haley waited patiently for him to answer but instead he had bowed his head and continued to scribble on the piece of paper in front of him. "Well?" She asked when she realised that she wasn't going to get an answer from him unless she prodded him.

"Well what?" Nathan muttered as he shaded in the corner of the design he was working on.

Haley sighed as she folded her arms across her chest. "What are you doing?"

"Working Hales, what does it look like I'm doing?" Nathan returned, still not lifting his head from his papers.

Haley glared at him, not that he had noticed because he still wasn't looking at her. She knew that he was busy but surely he needed to take a break. She decided that shouting at him wasn't going to get her anywhere, so instead she tried the guilt trip. "I missed you last night, how come you couldn't make it?" She asked.

"I know gorgeous, it's just this account is taking up so much of my time, I had to stay late." Nathan responded distractedly.

"How late?" Haley asked.

"I don't know." Nathan shrugged.

Haley sighed when she realised that the guilt trip wasn't working given that he still hadn't even looked at her. "Brooke was angry that you didn't show." She tried, remembering just how furious she had been last night, yelling in her ear about how he was breaking a tradition that was years old and how disrespectful it was of him to not even bother turning up for one drink, just because of work. In Brooke's eyes, work was not an excuse. Haley knew that now given that she had to listen to her drone on and on about it for a good hour of last night.

Nathan scoffed. "Like I care what Brooke thinks."

Haley furrowed her brow, wondering how he could work constantly like this and not get tired or stressed or… something? All she had wanted to do today was spend time with him given that she felt like she hadn't spent any quality time with him in a whole week, but it seemed that he had some other plans that didn't include her. She popped herself off the desk. "Sarah was asking for you." She said as she watched him carefully for a reaction.

"Who?" Nathan asked, wondering who the hell this Sarah person was as he grabbed his eraser and rubbed out some of the shading, realising that he had gone a bit overboard.

Haley rolled her eyes at him. "You know Sarah? The girl who works at the bar. The one you were talking to last week."

"Oh right." Nathan replied, remembering who she was going on about now.

"Yeah she was wondering whether you were going to show given that you told her you came to the bar every Friday night." Haley continued, gauging his reaction at this piece of news.

"Really?" Nathan responded, finding that he really just wanted to be left alone so that he could get these designs finished and then do a bit more research for his client. He picked up his pencil and continued to sketch.

"Uh huh. I think she likes you. Maybe we should head down there…" Haley started but abruptly shut her mouth when Nathan slammed his pencil down on the desk and glared at her.

"Jesus Christ Haley! Will you please just shut up and leave me alone. I'm trying to do some work here and all you keep doing is nattering on about some shit I couldn't care less about." Nathan snapped at Haley, having heard more than enough about the stupid woman who worked at the bar. He had far more important things on his mind at the moment and he had already told Haley that he wasn't interested in her, so why the hell was she bringing it up again?

Haley frowned as she glared at Nathan, knowing that he was stressed out about work, evidently, but still that was hardly an excuse for him to take it all out on her. "Well excuse me for just wanting to have a fucking conversation with you in our home. Should I let you check your diary so you can see what time you can slot me into your busy schedule?" She bit back before marching out of the room. "You know what, don't even bother." She shouted as she walked into the kitchen, grabbing the two cupcakes she had hidden in the cupboard and then marched back along the corridor towards her room.

Nathan sighed immediately once he realised that he had snapped at her and ran a hand through his hair, realising that work was obviously getting to him a lot more than he had realised, but nonetheless, he still needed to get some done this weekend. He watched as Haley practically ran back down the corridor past the study and so he quickly ran out of the room after her. "Gorgeous…" He called after her but she continued to run towards her room. "I'm sorry I shouldn't have snapped at you." He continued as he raced after her before stopping in front of her door just as she slammed it shut in his face.

He leaned his arm up against the wall next to her door and sighed heavily. The last thing he wanted was for Haley to be upset with him, especially over something that he had done out of frustration with himself rather than something that she had done. He was about to knock on the door when it suddenly swung open, and Haley glared at him before she squeezed past him and marched along the corridor with a backpack on her back and something in her hands. He followed her down the hallway. "What have you got in your hands?" He asked, curious as to what she was holding.

"Cupcakes." Haley responded nonchalantly as she grabbed her keys from the side table.

"What?" Nathan whined as he watched her open the front door. She couldn't seriously be holding cupcakes hostage, could she? How could he have not known that there were cupcakes in the apartment anyway, he usually had a sixth sense about cupcakes. Work must officially be messing with his head for him to miss out on finding them in the apartment. "Where are you going?" He asked as he felt his mouth water just at the thought of a damn cupcake.

"Out." Haley responded as she walked along the corridor towards the elevators, taking the cupcakes with her, which was probably not the best idea given that she was headed to the gym but anyway, there was no way she was going to share them with Nathan after he had snapped at her like that. "And don't bother searching the apartment for more cupcakes because I only bought two and I'm going to eat them both."

"Hales…" Nathan moaned as he watched her walk down the corridor, carrying the cupcakes with her. He really, really regretted snapping at her now that he knew a cupcake had been waiting for him. Damn him and his fucking mouth.

"Get back to your precious work Nathan. And don't you worry; I'll make sure I won't disturb you all day." Haley yelled back at him as she pressed the button and thankfully the elevator was already at her floor so she walked inside and pressed the ground floor button, hearing the front door to their apartment slam shut. _Good. _She thought to herself, she was glad he was pissed off. That'll teach him to snap at her again.

Nathan growled at the front door he had just slammed shut in complete frustration before taking off in the direction of the kitchen, sure that there had to be a cupcake hidden somewhere for him. She wouldn't be that cruel to him, would she? He opened every single cupboard in the hope that he would find a little cake waiting for him but once he had turned the entire kitchen upside down and found no cupcake he realised that she had meant what she had said and he really shouldn't have wasted his time looking for one. He slammed the last drawer shut and once again, really regretted not being able to control his tolerance levels. He'd just have to apologise profusely when she finally did come home, but until then, he always had his work to keep him company.

~*~

Haley walked back along the corridor from where she had been hiding in her bedroom since returning from the gym at seven o'clock in the evening towards the lounge and leaned her body against the doorframe once she reached the room. She shook her head as she watched Nathan work, his face was full of concentration as he tapped away on his laptop and fiddled around with some sketches he had obviously been working on all day, probably finding that he had run out of space in the study given how many sheets of paper were currently spread all over the floor. She bit down on her lip as she continued to watch him, he looked incredibly stressed out and she knew that he needed to give it all a break, so she ran back to her room and grabbed her phone, dialling the number so that she could call for a pizza.

Once she had placed the order she walked back down the corridor and stopped in the doorway again. "Okay, the pizza's coming in half an hour, so move all this into the study and we'll watch a film together." Haley commanded as she watched Nathan sigh heavily.

Nathan ran a hand through his hair, completely frustrated with how much work he still had to do. "Gorgeous, I'd love to but I really have to work on this some more." He said in an apologetic tone as he continued typing away on his laptop.

"Nathan, you need to have a rest! You've been working non-stop all week, you've only been coming home to sleep and you've not been getting much of that either! And on top of all the hours you have put in during the week, you've spent the whole of today working as well." Haley responded as she walked further into the lounge and stood on the other side of the coffee table, facing Nathan with her arms crossed over her chest.

Nathan looked up at her from his position on the floor and raised his eyebrow at her current stance. He could tell that she meant business but he really did need to do some work. "Hales I can't…"

"Yes you can. I'm not taking no for an answer, and I'll even let you choose the film." Haley interrupted, not ready to listen to another one of his excuses. "You need a break." She continued firmly.

"Gorgeous…" Nathan sighed, knowing that he was fighting a losing battle but he needed to try to get her to understand, he had so much going on at the moment and if he didn't work the weekend he was going to be ridiculously behind next week, which he really couldn't afford to be.

"Please Nathan, just for tonight." Haley pleaded with him as she unfolded her arms and looked down at her hands, playing with her fingers. "I'm getting worried about you, and I miss spending time with you." She admitted quietly

Nathan sighed in defeat. How the hell could he say no to her now? He climbed up from his position on the floor and walked around to where Haley was still playing with her hands and he pulled her into his embrace. "I'm sorry gorgeous." He mumbled into her hair as he placed a chaste kiss on the top of her head. He then pulled away from her and bent his knees so that he was able to look her in the eyes. "I'm also really sorry for snapping at you earlier. I was just having a weird moment and I shouldn't have taken it out on you. And you don't need to worry about me you know?"

"But I do." Haley sighed and then bit down on her lip. "I'm sorry too, I ate both of the cupcakes." She grimaced, feeling incredibly guilty right about now because she was sure that a cupcake would actually help relieve some of his stress.

Nathan chuckled at her, knowing that she was worrying about him just like how he constantly worried about her, and watched as she smiled back him. "Okay, let me go and have a quick shower and change out of these clothes, then I promise I'll put the work away for tonight. Sound good?"

"Yes." Haley replied. "Thank you."

"You don't need to thank me gorgeous, and besides, I know you're right, I need to take a break. Have we got any beer in the fridge or do we need to go out and get some?" Nathan asked.

"I'll go and check; you go and have your shower." Haley responded, feeling much happier now that she was going to spend the evening with her best friend as she walked out of the lounge and headed down the corridor towards the kitchen, finding more than enough beer in the fridge to keep them satisfied for a night, besides, they had the vodka and the JD available if they ran out. She then walked to her bedroom and stripped out of her jeans and tank top, wanting to change into something more comfortable and pulled open one of her drawers, finding her new camisole and brief set that she had bought earlier in the week staring up at her. She bit down on her lip, unsure of whether she should wear something like that around Nathan, but then she remembered that it was Saturday night and that something was going to happen between them both tonight anyway, so why the hell not? Besides, it was only cotton with a lace trim, it wasn't like it screamed sex or anything… it was actually quite modest.

Once she had changed she walked back into kitchen, opened two beers and then wandered back into the lounge. She noticed that Nathan's sketches and ideas were still spread over the coffee table and the floor and so she sunk down onto the floor and picked up some of them, flicking through them, smiling at his designs, already seeing that his work was starting to look as amazing as she knew it would be.

Nathan had just finished putting his grey training trousers on and was wandering down the corridor towards the lounge when the buzzer sounded in the apartment. "I've got it Hales." He called down the corridor to let her know that she didn't need to get up as he let the pizza guy into the building and opened the front door. He grabbed his wallet from the side table in the hallway and paid for the food, before walking into the lounge with the pizza in his hands. He saw all his drawings scattered on the coffee table as well as on the floor and so he distractedly handed Haley the pizza before he gathered up his pieces of paper and his laptop, taking them into the study.

Haley stood up and walked over to the DVD cabinet after placing the pizza down on the now clear coffee table. "What film did you want to watch?" She called out to Nathan.

"I don't mind." Nathan shouted back.

"You choose." Haley returned loud enough so that he could hear her.

Nathan wandered back into the lounge and halted to a complete stop when he looked over to the shelves of DVDs where Haley was standing and realised what she was wearing. It wasn't so much the top that had surprised him; the top was simply a grey top with a bit of light pink lace around the edges, it was innocent enough and she had loads like it. His eyes were currently glued to her legs though. She was wearing a pair of matching grey panties with the pink lace trimming, and that was it. He couldn't stop his eyes from travelling up and down her lusciously long legs, and thankfully for him, Haley's back was still turned away from him so she wasn't witnessing him behaving like an absolute, drooling idiot. She had never worn anything that tiny around him before in the house, usually she had a pair of sleep shorts that she wore with the tops so he was more than a little shocked at her valiant display of skin.

"Well what do you want to watch?" Haley shouted again, not realising that Nathan had come back into the lounge.

Thankfully for Nathan, Haley's shouting brought him right out of his trance and he shook his head, bringing himself back to the situation at hand. He ran a hand through his hair, trying to remember what the hell was going on. A film, that was it, they were going to eat pizza and watch a film. And it was Saturday, which meant that another item from the list was going to be ticked off tonight, was that why she had worn the tiny panties? Truth be told, he hadn't had a chance to even think about their upcoming plans because he had been so busy with work this week. But seeing Haley dressed in those barely there panties definitely had his mind wandering. He shook his head at himself again, finding that his brain had started to head down that path once more and he cleared his throat. "I really don't mind Hales." He said as he grabbed one of the beer bottles that Haley had placed on the coffee table and took a swig of it as he sat himself down on the couch.

Haley rolled her eyes at his helpful response and looked at the DVDs they had on the shelves. She was trying to find The Godfather, knowing that it was one of Nathan's favourite films. She spotted it on one of the top shelves and reached up to grab it, hissing in pain as she lifted her arm up above what was her shoulder height.

Nathan noticed that Haley grabbed her arm and hissed as she reached up for the DVD and instantly grew worried about her, wondering why it was hurting her. "Are you okay gorgeous?" He asked.

Haley reached up and grabbed the DVD, taking a deep breath as she lowered her arm back down, finally feeling the pain leave her body. "I'm fine." She returned as she turned around to face Nathan. She was going to kill Ryan when she next saw him; she told him that those weights were too much for her but he hadn't listened to her, instead loading them on the damn machine until she could barely lift the thing.

"Well you didn't sound like you were fine, what's up with your arm?" Nathan questioned as he watched Haley put the DVD into the machine and then she grabbed the remotes.

"It's nothing; it's just a bit sore that's all." Haley replied nonchalantly as she walked over to where Nathan was currently seated on the sofa.

Nathan raised his eyebrow at her and grabbed onto her waist as she tried to walk past him, stopping her from moving any further as he threw a couple of cushions onto the floor. "Sit." He commanded and put some added pressure on her waist, silently telling her that he wanted her to sit down on the floor in front of him.

"Nathan, I'm fine honestly." Haley responded as she tried to continue to move past him but Nathan only increased his grip on her waist.

"I'm sure you are fine, but either way, I want you to sit here." Nathan said and then smiled in satisfaction when Haley relented and sunk to the floor in between his legs. He watched the TV screen come to life as Haley pressed the play button on the remote and The Godfather started playing on the TV. He smiled as he started to watch the film, realising that she had picked his favourite film for them to watch. "Where does it hurt?" He asked.

"The top of my arm and my shoulder." Haley responded relenting from hiding the fact that she had been in pain from him as she settled back near the sofa and began to watch the film.

Nathan carefully moved her hair out of the way, placing it gently over one of her shoulders and began to massage the tops of her shoulders over the material of her top. "Here?" He asked as he worked his fingers into her skin.

"Uh huh." Haley returned as she closed her eyes and stretched her legs out in front of her. God he was good at this. She could feel him working his magic on her overworked muscles and it felt nothing short of amazing. She placed her hands down onto the carpet beside her body and fanned out her fingers as she breathed in deeply; enjoying the calming sensations his fingers were creating on her body, before opening her eyes again.

Nathan continued to move his fingers over the top of her back, using his thumbs and fingers to gently rub into her body, alternating in where he was working her muscles. He ran his hand down her arm slightly, relishing in the feel of her smooth skin underneath his fingertips instead of the cotton of her top, before moving them back up to her shoulders and to the top of her covered back. "Does that feel okay?" He asked, wondering whether he was using too much or too little pressure on her body.

"Yeah it's fine. You're actually really good at this." Haley returned lazily as she felt him move his hands down to her bottom of her shoulder blades and felt the pressure of his hands increase slightly. Her muscles felt a thousand times better, in fact they didn't really ache anymore at all, not that she was going to tell him that, not when she didn't want him to stop what he was doing. She felt completely and utterly relaxed.

Nathan leaned forward as he moved his hands a little bit lower, before dragging his fingers right up the middle of her spine, smirking to himself. He ran his eyes over her body as her back arched in an incredibly sexy way and his fingers continued their trail up towards her neck while his mouth finally reached her ear. "I don't know why you sound so surprised gorgeous, you should know by now that I'm good at a lot of things."

Haley shivered involuntarily as his warm breath fanned over her neck, feeling the fire rush through her body. She bit down on her lip and tried to concentrate on the TV but it was absolutely useless, all she could concentrate on were the sensations building up inside of her, the myriad of feelings coming solely from Nathan's touch alone. She felt his fingers spread out to her shoulders and he pressed into her skin forcefully, causing a quiet moan to escape from her lips before his hands trailed back down her spine. She felt his fingers run lower until he moved them to her hips, and she gasped as he then leaned down and gripped his hands underneath her thighs. She yelped in surprise as he picked her up off the floor and he slid down in between her and the sofa, placing her back down on the carpet in between his legs.

Nathan settled his back against the sofa and stretched his long legs out in front of him. Haley was still sitting with her back leaning slightly forward so that she wasn't resting on him completely and he leaned forward until his mouth was at her ear. "Are your shoulders feeling better gorgeous?" He whispered. He trailed both of his hands up her arms slowly, hearing Haley gasp as his fingers moved up to her shoulder, before she nodded her head at him. He continued to move his arms up over her shoulder and then began to move them down the sides of her body. "Good." He whispered as his hands continued to trail down over the gentle curve of her breast and into the slight dip of her waist before moving his hands down over the swell of her hip. He felt Haley shudder underneath his fingertips and he increased his grip on her hips before pulling her flush against his chest, closing any distance that had existed before between them. He didn't know why but he wanted her closer to him.

Haley leaned back against his bare chest and tried desperately hard to concentrate on the movie but all she could feel was Nathan's heart beating against her back. She sighed lightly and tried to focus on the TV, but Nathan chose that moment to begin tracing idle circles on the top of her left thigh with his hand. She was sure it was an innocent gesture, she was sure that he didn't mean anything by it because his breathing and his heart rate remained at a steady pace, and she could tell that he was completely enthralled with the film given all of these facts and therefore he wasn't concentrating on what he was doing to her at all, but she couldn't help the fact that his touch caused her skin to burn fiercely. She had no hope in hell of watching the film now, not when all she was concentrating on doing was silently speaking to his hand, begging it, pleading with it to move even further up her leg. God she just wanted him to touch her a little bit higher than he currently was, was that too much for her to ask of him?

Nathan had been tracing circles on the top of Haley's left thigh for seven minutes and twenty four seconds. He knew this because he had been counting every single second that had passed as a way of keeping himself in check. He knew that the minute he lost count, all hell would break loose and he wouldn't be able to stop himself or control any of his actions. And besides that fact, he was also enjoying the feel of Haley squirming slightly against him too much for him to break his concentration. However, he decided to up the ante that little bit more, just to see what kind of reaction he would get out of her.

Haley almost started doing the happy dance when she felt Nathan's hand begin to slide ever so slightly along her thigh, towards where she desperately wanted him to touch her. She watched his hand slyly from the corner of her eye as she held her breath, his fingers inched closer and closer, the anticipation was almost becoming too much for her to take and she hand to dig her hands into the carpet to stop them from reaching out to grab a hold of his hands and get them to her desired destination sooner than he had evidently anticipated arriving.

Her skin was just perfect. Honestly, he'd never felt anything more sensational than the feel of his fingertips dancing across her skin in all his life, it didn't matter where he was touching her, leg, stomach, arm, back, it all felt good. He trailed his hand further up her leg, and if Haley was affected by his actions then she was doing a pretty damn good job of hiding it, he couldn't even hear her breathing, let alone hear any sharpness of breath coming from her. He raised an eyebrow as his eyes focussed on the screen, although he wasn't watching the film at all and graciously accepted the silent challenge from her. She would be withering and begging him to fuck her with his fingers by the time he had finished with her, he was going to make sure of it, and this time, he wanted her to tell him what she wanted from him. He wanted her to be confident enough to do that.

Haley had to bite down on her lip to stop herself from moaning as his fingers moved closer and closer to the lace of the panties she was currently wearing. She closed her eyes for the briefest of seconds before quickly snapping them open when she felt Nathan's hand begin to move in the wrong direction. What the hell did he think he was doing? His hand should be moving closer to the lace, not further away. She scowled at the TV and tried her best to breathe at a normal pace, hoping that Nathan wasn't working out how frustrated she was with him right now.

Nathan licked his lips and smirked to himself as he moved his hand back towards her knee, beginning to draw more idle circles on her thigh, noticing the slight depth to her breathing, indicating that he was making some kind of progress with her, which of course pleased him no end. He then moved his hands back towards her panties, trailing his fingertips ever so lightly over her skin, this time dipping to the inside of her thigh slightly, moving ever closer to his eventual intended target.

Okay, so the whole drawing circles on her thigh and dragging his fingers up and down her leg could possibly be perceived as being an innocent gesture, but moving his fingers to the inside of her thigh and then literally getting within a centimetre of the lace before changing his fricking mind was most definitely intentional. The sly bastard. Haley was now onto him, and if he wanted to do this, then that was fine with her. She wasn't going to allow herself to be bothered by him in the slightest. She was simply going to settle back and watch the film and completely ignore his hand and what it was doing to her body.

Nathan felt Haley adjust herself against his chest and he stilled the movement of his hand for a second, wondering whether she was going to retaliate in some way, but all she did was settle down and continue to breathe steadily. And from what he could gather from his position behind her, she was concentrating on the TV and not his hand, so she was still resisting him which meant that it was time for him to increase the strength of his attack. He brought his free hand up to her hip and rubbed circles into her skin over the cotton of her top. He then began to move his hand up her thigh, still moving on the inside of it, until he touched the lace of her panties with his index finger, and when he heard Haley gasp quietly to herself, he couldn't help the smirk that spread right across his face.

God he really was a sneaky fucker. She tried to cover up her gasp but even without looking at Nathan she knew that he had heard her and she also knew that he had that smirk of his on his damn face. She bit down on her lip, knowing that she needed to do something, she could feel how wet she was and she was desperate for some friction of some kind but it seemed that Nathan wasn't going to provide that to her just yet. So she decided to start her own little game, only, of course, she wasn't half as bold as Nathan was. Nathan was much more experienced, evidently, than she was in the art of silent seduction.

Nathan ran his index finger along the lace of her panties for a few seconds before moving his hand back down her thigh once again. He knew that it was only going to be a matter of time before she started moaning at him for more, which is when he would act all nonchalant in the hope that she would become more confident in asking for what she wanted. He had just reached the middle of her thigh when he felt her hand move from its position beside her body, and it landed on his trouser covered knee. He halted his actions for a brief second, wondering what on earth she was doing touching his knee like that, it was quite possibly the last thing he had imagined happening. But then he felt her nails begin to fan out right over the top of his knee and he practically had to dig his leg into the floor to stop himself from jerking up at the sensation her nails were producing.

Haley grinned to herself in satisfaction, she had felt Nathan flinch against her and his hand had stopped moving along her thigh, albeit for the briefest of seconds but it had stopped nonetheless. She didn't move her eyes from the TV screen and continued to rake her nails over his knee as his own hand continued its trail back to the lace, before retreating towards her knee again. She wondered how long she was going to be able to keep this up, because all she could feel was this surge of need and wanting running like a wildfire through her veins, she was desperate, she wasn't scared to admit that to herself, she wanted his fingers on her, properly, and all this teasing was doing absolutely nothing to quench the thirst she felt for him building deep inside of her.

How the hell can someone's nails moving across your knee feel this erotic? It wasn't even as if his knee was exposed to the touch of her nails either, he was wearing a reasonably thick pair of training trousers for crying out loud. God he was weak, and pathetic, but he honestly couldn't give a shit about that right now, not when all his concentration was being forced into stopping himself from plunging his fingers deep inside her hot, wet, tight pussy. He was getting harder and harder by the second; the raking of her nails on his knee was sending these sparks of electricity through his entire body and all he could think was more. Nathan wanted more from her, he desperately needed her to concede in this battle because he was absolutely useless in this current power struggle and he refused to lose to her, not like this, not when all she had done was touch his knee.

Haley could feel his hard cock pressing into her back and she almost moaned at the feel of it, but managed to catch it just before it had the chance to escape from her mouth. Was it weird to be craving him as much as she was? She thought about it some more and immediately dismissed the idea that she was craving Nathan, because that was simply impossible, she was merely craving the need for release, which meant that she was craving fingers and cock, which just happened to be attached to Nathan. His fingers came back towards the lace edge of her panties and he used his index finger to run along it, just like he had on his previous round, and possibly by accident, possibly on purpose, she felt his middle finger graze right up the centre of her panties. It was barely a touch, in fact, it was more of a hovering, a brush which she wasn't sure if she should have felt. But damn, she had felt it and it had taken every single inch of her willpower to stop herself from bucking her hips into his hand at that precise second.

Fuck. Just fuck. She was so fucking wet. Nathan had felt just how damp her panties were even though he had barely fucking touched her. How the hell was he supposed to resist her now that he had felt just how ready she was for him? But in truth, it wasn't really him she was ready for; it was just simply his fingers, not him, which he reminded himself of as his hand began to climb back up her thigh again towards her panties. He knew that he would be unable to resist feeling her properly this time, and he was only going to touch her briefly, but just enough so that this time she most definitely felt it. He reached her panties and this time pressed with a tiny bit of pressure into the material and dragged his finger lightly up her slit until his middle finger brushed softly over her clit. And how the fuck he managed to move his hand away again he'd never know, but somehow he did.

Haley couldn't take a second more of this, she felt like she was going to boil over, she was that hot, she was sure that she was going to explode at any given second. How he thought this was fair, how he thought that he could tease her like this and not give her what he must know that she wanted was just cruel as far as she was concerned. So as his hands moved back up her thighs and moved to the top rather than the side, she decided that she'd had enough and so she lifted her feet a little closer to her body and snapped her thighs together, so that his access to her was completely denied.

She was cutting him off. He raised an eyebrow at the TV and almost chuckled. Did she honestly think that placing her thighs together was going to stop him from doing this? He trailed his hand that had been resting on her hip down over her hip bone and began the ascent along her thigh towards her knees. Once his right hand had met his left, he pried her knees open. He then lifted his legs and placed them inside her now open ones and hooked her legs in place, dragging them wider, opening her up to him, not giving her the option to close her legs even if she wanted to. "That's better." He whispered hotly in her ear as he resumed the trail up her thigh, only this time, when he reached the lace edge of her panties, he slipped his index finger underneath it.

God. His fingers were right there, right where she wanted them to be but he was doing absolutely nothing about it. Haley suddenly thought back to last week in the shower, when Nathan had wanted her to ask for what she wanted, and she wondered if that was what he was doing here. She was embarrassed as hell, she desperately wanted him to touch her but he wasn't playing along one bit. But then she realised that this was Nathan, and she didn't have anything to be embarrassed about, wasn't that the whole point of this arrangement? She took a deep, shaky breath and moved her hand from where it had been resting on his knee and trailed it down his leg, before moving it onto her thigh. She then found his wrist and placed her hand on top of his, then pushed her now soaking wet panties to the side out of the way. She pressed his middle finger into her slit, and then dragged it upwards, gathering her slick wetness as she went, before trailing his finger around her clit. She then moved her hand back down and then pushed both of their fingers inside of her, and as she pulled their fingers out, she let go of his wrist. "That is what I want." She said breathily, hoping that she had done enough to get him started.

_Fuck me. _Nathan thought to himself. That was quite honestly the last thing he had expected Haley to do. She had just kind of, sort of, masturbated in front of him or with him in fact. Hadn't she? That was single-handedly one of the hottest things he'd ever fucking experienced, feeling her guide his hand like that, in such a bold, un-Haley like move. He would have taken the moment to feel proud of her, but he quickly realised that his fingers were itching to be back inside of her, and she had pushed her hips up and was whimpering slightly, waiting for him to do something.

Haley finally felt him press one of his fingers inside of her and she lowered herself back to the carpet from her levitating position, a feeling of complete contentment and satisfaction rushing over her as the desire and longing she had been harbouring for him ever since he had started to touch her this evening was finally quenched. "Oh God." She panted as she pressed her head against his chest, arching her back forwards as she pressed her hands into his thighs, wanting him to go deeper inside of her.

Nathan slid his finger back out of her completely and circled her entrance once, before he entered her again, this time adding another finger. He leaned his head down so that his mouth was at her neck, feeling her begin to rock her hips against him, brushing his rock hard cock as she did so in the most tantalisingly delicious way. He groaned into her neck as he twisted his fingers inside of her. "Jesus Hales, you are so fucking tight." He moaned as he bit down on her neck.

Haley felt him move his fingers in and out of her at a painfully slow pace, his fingers curling inside of her as he dragged them out of her body and she would raise her hips each time he entered her, feeling his hard cock rub against her from behind. She felt his mouth connect with her neck again, this time leaving slow, soft kisses as he ran his tongue languorously against her skin, causing the sensations to build up quickly from deep inside of her. She loved the feel of him behind her like this; it was something new, something different. She raised one of her arms from his thigh and latched onto his neck pressing his mouth more firmly onto her neck.

Nathan moved his mouth more forcefully over her skin as he felt her fingertips dig into the back of his neck. He felt Haley lower her head and then she gasped sharply, and he realised that she must be watching what he was doing to her. He groaned against her neck at this realisation. "Do you like that Hales, do you like watching me fuck you with my fingers?" He asked in a gravelly voice as his mouth continued to move over her neck.

"Fuck yes." Haley replied as she continued to watch his fingers disappear inside her body. As his fingers withdrew from her she grazed his hard cock again and breathed in sharply, knowing exactly what she wanted to tick off the list tonight. "Nathan?" She asked as he thrust his fingers more forcefully inside of her, causing a low groan to escape from her mouth.

"Hmmmm?" Nathan responded as he bit down lightly on her neck, twisting his fingers inside of her, having to stifle the moan against her neck as she brushed his cock again with the bottom of her back.

He was thrusting his fingers into her body at a much faster pace than before and Haley was panting like she had just run a hundred miles or something. She increased her vice like grip on his neck and his thigh, needing to hold onto something because she was sure that she was going to explode at any given second. "I want… oh fuck… I want to do number three." She breathed as she lifted and sunk her hips in time with the pace set by his fucking phenomenal fingers.

Nathan kept the pace of his fingers going as she talked to him. What the fuck was she going on about? Number three what? He moved his mouth along her neck, nipping and biting his way across it until he reached her pulse point, which was beating furiously and he licked his tongue around it. "What?" He mumbled against her skin, his brain far too clouded and distracted to try to work out the mystery of her words.

Haley licked her lips as she continued to rock along with him, so caught up in the feel of him inside her, behind her, on her neck. "I want you to fuck me from behind." She said before she even had a chance to realise what words had just left her mouth.

Holy fuck. She had just said that she wanted him to fuck her from behind, and then he connected the dots, number three on the list was _'be taken from behind'_. He felt the growl building from deep inside of him at hearing those words come from her lips, wanting nothing more than to give her exactly what she wanted. He withdrew his fingers from her and heard Haley whimper at the loss of contact as he grabbed the pillows from behind his back and threw them on the floor in front of Haley.

God Haley couldn't believe how needy she was, whimpering like that at the loss of his fingers. She watched in confusion as pillows flew in front of her and before she even had a chance to process what the hell was going on, she felt Nathan's hand snake across her waist and in one fluid motion, she found that he had lifted her up off the floor and had placed her on her hands and knees in front of him.

Seeing Haley on all fours like she was, ready for him to take her, set off some kind of primal desire deep inside of Nathan. God she was fucking perfect. He lowered his training trousers and kicked them off his body quickly, pleased that he hadn't bothered with boxers when he had got dressed after his shower earlier. His hands wanted to be on her body touching her again, they were drawn to her skin by some unexplainable force. He ran his hands from the back of her knees up the back of her thighs until he reached her ass and then ran his hands over it until he reached the lace edge of her panties. He pushed her vest top up a little and then he ran his fingers along her back until he came to her hips, where he hooked his fingers inside her panties, ready to slip them off her body. "Are you sure this is what you want to do tonight gorgeous?" He asked, because there was also a fucking load of other shit on her list that he would happily participate in with her tonight, and of course, there was every single item on his own list that needed attending to at some point in the future.

"Yes, I want to do this tonight." She responded and then felt Nathan lean down to place a kiss just above the waistband of her panties before she felt him begin to slide her cotton panties down her legs. One by one, she lifted her knees off the ground, allowing him to take them off her body completely.

"Spread your legs." Nathan commanded and watched as Haley spread her legs slightly until he was met with the most glorious view ever fucking created. He felt his cock get even harder as he gripped onto it with his right hand, pumping his fist up and down it a few times before halting his actions, not wanting to come before he'd even got inside of her. "Wider." He demanded in a strained voice, before he moved in between her legs, finally satisfied with her stance.

Haley felt him glide his cock up and down her slit a couple of times, and she groaned when she felt him pass outside of her entrance, having to dig her fingers into the carpet to stop herself from pressing back onto him. The anticipation of being in this position, on her hands and knees for Nathan caused an explosion of feelings to bubble away inside of her. She was nervous, but in a good way, she'd heard countless times from Brooke that this was her favourite position and she desperately wanted to try it with Chase, but she'd never felt bold enough to bring it up with him. Yet here she was, desperate, needy, and in a completely helpless position wanting and craving Nathan to just get the fuck on with it. He'd had his fair share of torturing her this evening surely, she couldn't take any more. "Please, Nathan." She moaned as she felt the tip of his cock pass over her entrance again.

Nathan was trying to buy himself a little bit more time, he was trying to compose himself because if he just plunged into her he knew that he wasn't going to last more than thirty seconds, and this was one of his favourite positions, therefore he wanted Haley to know how good it was, and him lasting just a couple of seconds was not going to prove that point to her at all. But then he heard her pleading with him and he knew that he had stalled for long enough. He hadn't been meaning to tease her again and knew it wasn't fair for him to continue what he was doing to her.

Haley felt his cock move down towards her entrance again only this time, thankfully he didn't move back up and instead he pressed himself into her incredibly slowly, stretching and filling her body. She sucked in a sharp breath as he slid inside of her, the sensation overtaking all of her senses. She gripped onto the carpet forcefully with her fingers as she felt his hands push up her cotton top even more and then felt him move his hands to her hips. He then pulled out of her just as slowly as he had entered her. "Oh fuck that feels good." She moaned just as he moved his cock back inside of her.

Nathan had known that Haley was tight; he'd had sex with her twice before tonight and she had felt incredibly tight both times he had taken her, but in this position, it was just ridiculous, but in the most fantastic way. He watched, completely transfixed as his cock moved inside of her body again and groaned sharply as he dug his fingers into the sides of her hips. Seeing his cock move in and out of her body like that was pure torture and would do absolutely nothing to help him last as long as possible, so he clenched his eyes shut and breathed in deeply, trying to control himself. He increased his momentum, thrusting in and out of her at a slightly faster pace and was rewarded with a low groan escaping from Haley's lips as he opened his eyes and watched her bend her head. "Fuck Hales." He groaned as he felt Haley push her hips back as he entered her, allowing him to go that little bit deeper inside of her.

Haley really needed to find something to hold onto because if she continued to claw at the carpet like she was currently doing, she was going to rip holes in it. She searched around frantically, finding one of the pillows that Nathan had thrown in front of her earlier and she reached out to grab it and clenched her hands on the edges as she continued to rock her hips along to Nathan's rhythm, which had increased even more than before. She felt his fingers help her push her hips against him, feeling his cock hit places she hadn't even known existed inside of her. Now she knew why people liked this position so much, this had to be the best sex she'd ever had.

Nathan could see that her arms were shaking slightly from the strain of holding herself upright and he suddenly remembered the fact that her shoulders had been hurting her earlier, and this position wouldn't be doing her arms any good at all. "Is your shoulder okay gorgeous?" He panted as he continued to move in and out of her, struggling to catch his breath.

"Mmmm." Haley responded. She could feel her arms shaking but her brain was blocking out any other feeling apart from the pleasure that was coursing through her veins. She couldn't even begin to comprehend feeling anything besides Nathan pounding relentlessly into her at this given moment.

He continued to thrust into her, unable to stop himself, as he reached to the side of his body and grabbed another pillow, placing it underneath her body, not believing that her shoulder was okay despite what she had told him. He then ran his hand along her stomach, making sure that he had a good enough grip on her, and then he lifted her off the floor as he leaned all of his weight on his free arm, pressing his chest into the back of her before lowering them both to the floor with her laying on her stomach, the pillow he had placed underneath her propping her hips up at just the right angle. Her legs were spread out and his were in between hers, his arms resting beside her body, supporting all of his weight as he pushed his fingers into the carpet. He rested up slightly on his knees, giving himself just the right amount of leverage to move in and out of her.

How the hell Haley had managed to land up on her stomach she had no idea, that had been impressive enough, but what she was most impressed with was the fact that in the midst of all that reshuffling, his cock hadn't left her body. As soon as she was lying on the pillow, she felt him begin to thrust into her again and she couldn't help but moan into the pillow she was still clutching. She felt him lean his head down and he placed three shaky kisses on the top of her back, his warm breath mingling on her already burning hot skin.

Nathan lifted his head from her back and leaned up with both of his hands placed at her sides as he thrust into her repeatedly. He felt her begin to clench her inner muscles around his cock, adding to the tightness he already felt at being buried so deep inside of her. "God Hales." He moaned as he lowered himself a little, resting on his forearms and elbows, allowing him to get closer to her skin as he showered her back with feather light kisses.

"Nathan." Haley moaned as she lifted her hips slightly from their position on the pillow and continued to clench her inner muscles around his cock. She could feel her toes beginning to curl into the carpet and the sensations whirled around inside of her as she felt her entire body clench as the waves of pressure pulsated relentlessly inside of her, the force of her orgasm overwhelming her, her body shaking and shuddering with the strength of the feelings that were running through her entire frame, never having come so hard in all her life. "Shit Nathan." She yelled as she dug her face into the pillow before realising that she desperately needed to get some oxygen into her lungs and so she shifted her head to the side, gasping for air as she felt Nathan continue to move inside of her, unrelenting in his pace.

Nathan lowered his head to her back and rested his forehead against the top of her back as he thrust into her once more before stopping his actions as he came inside of her. His breathing was harsh and laboured and he could feel the dampness of Haley's skin against his wet forehead. He took a deep breath as he tried desperately to regain some semblance of normality to the pace of his breathing and his heart, before placing a lingering kiss on Haley's spine as he lifted himself off her and threw his body back against the sofa, sitting with his back leaning against it as he watched Haley's body. "Are you okay gorgeous?" He asked as he ran a hand through his hair.

Haley couldn't move, let alone open her mouth to speak. Jesus fucking Christ, that had been amazing. She was still in absolute shock that she had engaged in something that felt as good as that had. She felt like the insides of her body were still shuddering with the force of her orgasm it had been that strong. She was trying to calm her breathing down and that action alone seemed to be taking every single inch of her concentration.

"Hales?" Nathan asked as he continued to look down at her, wondering if she was alright given that she wasn't answering him.

Haley lifted one of her hands and held her index finger in the air, indicating that she was okay, she just needed a minute. Once she wasn't so much as gasping for air but instead breathing sharply, she lowered her hand to the floor and then tried to lift her body up off the floor. "Fuck." She muttered as she continued to raise her body up.

"Shit Haley is your shoulder okay?" Nathan asked as he began to panic. He hadn't hurt her had he?

"Yeah it's fine." Haley returned as she leaned up on her legs which she tucked underneath her and then turned around to face Nathan, smiling shyly at him as she found that he was still naked and she was naked from the waist down, given that they hadn't even bothered to remove her cotton top in their sex session.

How she could act all coy and shy after they had just done what they had was something that Nathan couldn't help but think was strange, but then again at the same time it was so Haley to do something like that. "Well if your shoulder is fine then what was the problem?"

"Nothing." Haley returned as she looked down at the ground, already feeling the blush colour her cheeks and she then lifted her eyes to find Nathan's penetrating gaze looking right at her, knowing that there was no way she was going to get away with not saying anything to him now that he was looking at her all worried. "It's just…" She started and then trailed off, completely embarrassed by what had really been going through her mind.

"Just what?" Nathan asked as he continued to look at her, wondering why she was blushing so much.

Haley took a deep breath and began to fiddle with her hands as she removed her gaze from his and concentrated her eyes on her fingers. "That… felt really good." She admitted quietly, hoping that he wouldn't hear her admission.

Nathan heard what she had just said and he suddenly realised that she hadn't been swearing in pain when she had tried to lift her body up off the floor, she was swearing in appreciation of what they had just done. He smirked at her and raised his eyebrow at her cheekily as her eyes returned to his.

Haley couldn't help but scoff at him. "God Nathan, do you have to be so…" She started but struggled to find the right word.

"So what Hales? So much of a sex God? So much of a fucking great fuck?" Nathan offered her the words that were obviously currently evading her brain.

Haley rolled her eyes at him and leaned forward to whack his arm. "No, none of that, just so…" She started and then scoffed once again as he chuckled at her. "So… you."

"What do you mean by that?" Nathan asked as he looked at her with confusion.

"So pig headed, so arrogant all the time?" Haley returned as she scooted herself along the carpet and leaned against the sofa next to him, folding her arms across her chest as she did so, huffing at the fact that he was taking the piss out of her yet again.

"I am not pig headed and arrogant all the time." Nathan returned in mock shock. "I admit, I can be those things some of the time but I think accusing me of being in a constant state of pig headedness and arrogance is a little harsh Hales." He continued, before spying the pizza they had ordered earlier on which lay completely untouched on the coffee table. "You want some pizza?" He asked as he grabbed the box and opened it, offering her a slice.

Haley turned her nose up and the now stone cold pizza, and pushed the box back towards Nathan. "No thanks, and you know what I mean, why do you have to be like that with me after we've just, you know?" She asked as she scowled at him.

"You mean after we've just had sex?" He asked with a raised eyebrow, chuckling at Haley's scowling glare. "You know what I don't get gorgeous? How twenty minutes ago, or however long ago it was, you asked me to, and I quote 'fuck me from behind' and now you can't even say the word sex to me." He said as he placed the pizza box in his lap and grabbed a slice, handing it to Haley. "And you don't really want to get into a discussion about food again, do you?" He warned and then watched in satisfaction as Haley reluctantly took the slice of pizza from his hand and started to eat it.

Haley chewed on the pizza. "This is disgusting." She returned. "I hate cold pizza." She moaned.

"I know you do gorgeous, but you need to eat something, and I can't be bothered to grab you anything else so this is going to have to do. Just eat one more slice okay?" Nathan responded as he took a bite of his own slice, not understanding why she didn't like cold pizza, it was almost as good as warm pizza.

"Fine." Haley replied as she swallowed her mouthful of horrible cold pizza. "And anyway, going back to my earlier topic of conversation, why are you like that?"

"What confident you mean?" Nathan returned.

"No arrogant." Haley responded.

"Well what you call arrogant, I call confident. Hales, admit it, that was some of the best sex you've ever had." Nathan said as he took a swig of his warm beer and placed it back down on the coffee table before twisting his body around so that he could face her.

"No!" Haley responded incredulously. She wasn't going to stroke his ego, not when his head was barely big enough to fit in the same room as her at the moment.

"I know it was." Nathan returned, goading her slightly.

"How the hell would you know if that was the best sex I'd ever had?" Haley responded, arching her eyebrow at him in challenge.

Nathan chuckled at her. "Hales, you really want to go down this road?"

"Yes I do." Haley responded, wanting to take him down a peg or two, because although he was right and that had been amazing, and yes it was probably the best sex she'd ever had, he didn't know that, he couldn't know that was true.

"Fine. I know that had to be the best sex you've ever had because aside from me, the only person you've had sex with is your ass of an ex boyfriend, who couldn't make you come during sex at all, and so therefore, that makes me the only person to have ever made you orgasm from sex." Nathan returned.

"So, how do you know that was the best?" Haley asked.

"You've never come so hard in your life." Nathan returned before chuckling at her shocked expression, the blush covering her face beautifully. "And that blush of yours just confirms that fact gorgeous." He said as he stretched his arm out over her shoulder and pulled her towards him, placing a kiss on the top of her head.

Haley shook her head at him. She knew that she couldn't argue back with him, because she didn't have a point to argue, he had been right, that had been the best sex she'd ever had in her life. So she conceded, and rested her head against his chest. "You're still an arrogant asshole Nathan." She said as she smiled into his chest, always wanting to have the last word.

Nathan felt her smile into his chest and couldn't stop his own from forming over his face too. "Maybe so, but don't forget that this arrogant asshole just gave you the best orgasm of your life." He teased.

"Oh for God's sake shut up Nathan." Haley chastised him as she rolled her eyes and grabbed another slice of cold pizza from the box his lap.

"Admit it Hales." Nathan said, wanting to hear her say those very words.

Haley bit down on her pizza and chewed it, pondering whether it was worth her saying it, because she knew that she wouldn't hear the end of it if she did tell him what he wanted to hear. But then again, if she didn't tell him then he would only find a way of embarrassing her even more than he was currently doing. She swallowed the pizza. "You just gave me the best orgasm of my life. Happy now?" She asked as she rolled her eyes at how childish he could be sometimes.

"Extremely." Nathan said happily as he bit down on his pizza slice. "Oh and Hales?"

"Mmmm." Haley returned, deciding that she probably didn't want to hear what he was going to say next given that the current level of his ego was astronomical.

Nathan swallowed his pizza and leaned away from her so that he could look her in the eyes. "That was the best for me too." He said and then smiled at her as he continued to eat his cold pizza.

Haley smiled back at him shyly as she bit down on her lip. That had most definitely been the last thing she had expected him to say to her. She leaned forward and placed a chaste kiss on his cheek. "Thank you." She whispered. She didn't know what she was thanking him for, whether it was for suggesting they do this crazy thing in the first place, whether it was for not being an arrogant asshole with her anymore or whether it was because he really was an arrogant asshole.

"For what?" Nathan asked, wondering what she was thanking him for.

Haley pondered some more before coming to the conclusion. "For just being you."

**AN – So do you guys notice that things are slowly, very discretely, changing for them both?**

**And what's going to happen with Ryan?**

**So still no glimpse at Nathan's list yet, but it's coming soon.**

**Please let me know what you thought of the chapter by leaving a review.**

**A preview, as always, of the next chapter is available if you want it, just let me know if you do want it in a review and I'll get it to you ASAP.**

**Also, teaser pics for chapter six will be up on the blog soon.**


	6. Chapter 6

**AN – Thank you all so much for the reviews of the previous chapter. I really appreciate all of your comments, so keep them coming! :o)**

**I am sorry about the time it took to get this chapter posted, I've had a bit of a crazy week, I was in Dublin for a day with work, which was a 4am start from home, and then went away to Switzerland the next day to visit my family for four days so I didn't get much free time to spend writing! But this chapter is quite long and I hope that what happens in it kind of makes up for the wait!**

**Once again, a few words to those of you without accounts that left a review… **Annonymous – **I'm so glad you're excited for Nathan and Haley to be a proper couple and you'll get a taste of what's on Nathan's list this chapter! Hope you like this update. **Sara – **So pleased you enjoyed the last update, hope you like this chapter too! **BlueJean452 – **So glad you liked the last chapter, you'll get to see some of Nathan's list in this chapter, hope you enjoy the update! **RICE – **I'm glad you're enjoying the pictures on the blog! I'll be putting more up for the next chapter soon, so keep an eye out for those! Hope you like this chapter! **Laura – **So pleased you're enjoying my writing and sorry for the wait for this chapter, I hope it's worth it though and that you like the update!**

**Major, major thanks to both Kristen and Rebecca who do an awesome job reading through this for me before I post! **

**Hope you all enjoy and I'll chat to you at the end…**

**Chapter Six**

"Come on Haley, keep the pace up." Ryan encouraged as he jogged on the treadmill beside her. "You're doing really well."

Haley lifted her head from where she had been looking down at her feet and glanced in the mirrored wall which was in front of them at Ryan, who was jogging on the treadmill to the left of the one she was using. She sighed at how relaxed and calm he looked and then rested her eyes on her own reflection, cringing at how unkempt and shattered she looked compared to the graceful figure of Ryan running next to her. How was it possible for him to look that normal when he was running as fast as he was? Her eyes moved back to herself and she studied the way she looked at the moment, and the first word that came to her mind was unfit. She looked completely and totally unfit. She was huffing and puffing, she had red cheeks, a sweaty forehead… she had it all.

"Haley, stop concentrating on the running so much and just relax." Ryan said as he watched her watching herself in the mirror.

Haley frowned as she caught his eyes which were staring right at her in the mirror. She breathed in deeply, trying to get some much needed oxygen into her lungs before she even dared to open her mouth to speak. "How do you know that's what I'm thinking about?" She asked, wondering if he was a mind reader or something. She was usually a master at hiding her true feelings and thoughts about most things, the only person ever able to read her like that was Nathan, and he had known her since forever, so how come Ryan seemed to have mastered the act after knowing her for all of five minutes?

Ryan smiled at her in the mirror as he continued to run on the treadmill, his pace never faltering. "I just can; call it a special gift I have or something." He returned cheekily.

Haley couldn't help but scoff at his cockiness. She shook her head at him, his teasing nature reminding her so much of Nathan in a weird kind of way. She was just about to start drawing comparisons between Ryan and Nathan when her thoughts were interrupted by Ryan once again.

"Now stop over-analysing it and just let go and run. We've only got another eight minutes or so to go, and your pace has dropped again." Ryan noted.

Haley moaned audibly. Eight more minutes of this. God it was torture. Today was Thursday, and after having run for the three previous days for all of ten minutes, Ryan was now pushing her to run straight for twenty minutes. He said he had wanted her to be running for thirty straight by the end of the weekend, before they then moved their training out of the gym to the 'great outdoors' as he had put it. For Haley, the thought of running for thirty minutes seemed damn impossible; fifteen was going to be a struggle at this rate. God her legs were killing her...

"You're doing it again Haley…" Ryan chastised her, raising his eyebrow at her in the mirror.

Haley scowled at him in the mirror which earned a chuckle to escape from his mouth and she watched as he shook his head at her. She would have said something back to him but she feared that if she opened her mouth for anything other than to breathe at the moment, she might collapse in a heap on the floor. She then closed her eyes and blocked out the sounds of everything but the pounding of her feet on the conveyor belt, finding it rather a soothing rhythm that was allowing her to concentrate on something, which felt like nothing all at the same time.

Ryan smiled as he watched her in the mirror. Her eyes were closed and she had finally done what he had asked of her, she was simply letting go and allowing her legs to do all of the work without her brain analysing each move they made. He was quite proud of how far she had come since her gym induction at the weekend, where she had barely managed to run for five minutes without complaining endlessly about it.

He continued to watch her as he ran alongside her, his eyes running up and down her reflection in the mirror appreciatively every now and then, and after a short while he glanced down at his machine and noticed that their twenty minutes were almost up. "Okay Haley, twenty seconds to go and then the cool down will start." He warned her as he watched her eyes open up again, and she smiled at him in the mirror. He suddenly felt his heart rate increase in pace and he was one hundred percent certain it wasn't due to the running he had been doing but rather a reaction to her smiling at him.

Haley opened her eyes, smiled over at Ryan and then glanced down at her machine, waiting for the twenty minutes of absolute torment to be over. She wasn't sure if she'd even be able to walk once she stepped off this damn treadmill. The machine eventually beeped and she felt the belt begin to slow down gradually, eventually allowing her to resume a relaxed walking pace compared to the frantic running she had been doing previously.

Ryan continued to watch her in the mirror as they both completed the two minute cool down. He could see that she was still struggling to breathe a little but he could tell that she was starting to gain some control over that. Once the two minutes were up, the machine slowed to a halt and he stepped off his treadmill and leaned his arms on the rail of Haley's.

Haley couldn't help the million watt smile that was currently plastered on her face. She'd done it. She had managed to run for twenty minutes straight and she hadn't even moaned once about it. Out loud at least. She felt so proud of herself for achieving something she had thought was absolutely impossible, even if it was, to someone like Ryan, and she was sure every other person in this gym, something they could do in their sleep, to her running for twenty minutes straight and completing the cool down, so really it was twenty two minutes that she had run for, was a big deal.

Ryan laughed at how pleased Haley seemed to be with herself, and rightly so too. "How do you feel?" He asked through his laughter, sure that he was asking a pretty obvious question but still, he wanted her to be able to share her happiness.

"Absolutely amazing! I can't believe I just did that!" Haley squealed as she jumped up and down on the treadmill a few times before realising that her legs did hurt a fair bit, so she soon stopped.

"I told you so; I knew you could do it Haley." Ryan returned.

"I know you did, but I just never ever thought that I would be able to do that." Haley replied, still feeling that she was on a high from having achieved what she had.

"Well imagine how you're going to feel after completing twenty-six miles, huh?" Ryan said with a teasing smile and then watched as her face twisted in disbelief again.

Haley frowned as she allowed Ryan's words to sink in. Twenty minutes was one thing, but running for twenty six miles, how on earth was she ever going to be able to achieve something of that magnitude?

Ryan sighed, instantly regretting his words but he knew that she could do it. Sure, training would be needed but even professional athletes needed to train hard for a marathon. "Hey." He said softly, waiting until Haley's eyes were connected with his before he continued. "I know you can do it Haley, you just have to believe that you can. You can do so much more than you give yourself credit for."

Haley smiled shyly at him, his words sounding far too familiar for her liking. She'd lost count of the times that Nathan had told her that she needed to believe in herself more too, yet she still had these doubts that hung over her, doubts in herself which weighed incredibly heavily on her shoulders. She knew that with all these people telling her that she could do things she thought were unachievable, she should just be able to shake them off but it was like they were bound to her so tightly, she didn't know if she was ever going to be able to shake off her personal demons.

"Come on, let's hit some…" Ryan started, but was interrupted by someone.

"Hello Haley."

Haley was instantly jolted out of her worries and jumped away from Ryan to the other side of the treadmill, even though they hadn't even been touching each other or anything, even though there had been a perfectly acceptable amount of space between them. She couldn't explain why she had done it, it had been a natural reaction she had no control over. She immediately stopped overanalysing it though and turned to see who was speaking to her. "Brooke!" She said, surprised to see her here at this time given that Brooke had told her that she usually came to the gym before work, not after.

Brooke made sure that Ryan couldn't see her face as she raised an accusatory eyebrow at her friend, before turning around to face Ryan. "Hello Ryan."

"Well if it isn't Brooke Davis. How's my favourite member?" Ryan asked with a smile before glancing over quickly at Haley's rather anxious face, which confused him slightly.

"I'm good thanks and you?" Brooke replied, unable to help the smile that spread across her face and the finger that made its way into her hair and started to twirl her locks around it. It was Ryan after all, a little flirting was necessary, wasn't it?

Ryan smiled back at her. "I'm really good thanks. I didn't know that you knew Haley." He said, stating the obvious as he didn't know what else to say given the awkwardness he could feel in the air.

It was then that Brooke remembered her reason for coming over here in the first place. She turned her head and gave Haley a pointed look, before turning back to Ryan. "Oh Haley and I have been friends since school actually." She responded.

"I see. Well I'm going to hit the weights and leave you two girls to gossip and whatnot. Haley, I'll see you tomorrow?" Ryan asked.

Haley closed her eyes briefly, wishing that Ryan wouldn't leave her alone with Brooke just yet. She just knew that she was about to be on the receiving end of Brooke in her element and she didn't want to be answering any of her questions, nor did she want to listen to any of what she was sure would be ludicrous suggestions from her just yet. She was still exhausted from her run for starters. "Erm, I can't actually do tomorrow." Haley returned.

"Okay, well how about Sunday then, that way you can have Saturday off as well as tomorrow. I'm on the late shift so shall we say about twelveish?" Ryan suggested.

"Sure." Haley responded as she returned Ryan's smile and watched as he turned to walk towards the weights at the other end of the gym. She sighed deeply as she turned away from Brooke and began to walk towards the dressing rooms, hoping that she would take the hint that there was nothing to discuss, well nothing that she wanted to discuss with her anyway.

"Oh and Haley?" Ryan called out to her as he turned around to face her again.

Haley turned around herself, slightly irritated that he was making her stop her desperate attempt to escape from Brooke. "Hmm?" She said.

"Well done for today, you should be proud of yourself." Ryan said sincerely, before twisting his body around again and headed towards the free weights.

Haley felt the irritation melt away as she let his words sink in, a slight blush colouring her cheeks. She nodded her head once and smiled at his retreating form, pleased that he was happy with what she had achieved today.

Brooke was so excited she was sure she was going to burst and so she knew that she couldn't wait a second longer. She grabbed a hold of Haley's wrist and marched them both out of the gym and into the changing rooms. She had so many questions whirling around in her head she really didn't even know where to start.

"For God's sake Brooke, let go of my wrist!" Haley yelled as she was forced by Brooke to sit on the wooden bench that lay beneath the lockers in the changing room. Brooke finally released her wrist once she had sat down and she rubbed at it with her right hand. "That really hurt!" She moaned.

Brooke rolled her eyes at Haley and spotted a chair to the left of where she was currently standing. She walked over to the chair and dragged it along the floor over to where Haley was sitting, before plonking herself down in the seat, proceeding to stare right at Haley. "Quit your moaning and start talking Haley." Brooke demanded, eager to absorb as much information about this situation as she could.

Haley raised her eyebrow at Brooke's request. "There isn't anything to tell."

"You honestly expect me to believe that?" Brooke scoffed before leaning her elbows on her knees and resting her chin in her hands, expectantly waiting for Haley to give her all of the juicy gossip.

"Yes I do." Haley returned sharply before she placed her hands on the bench beside her body and pushed herself back up to a standing position, only to be pushed back down onto the bench by Brooke, who, Haley realised, was could be surprisingly strong when she wanted to be.

"I don't know where the hell you think you're going Haley." Brooke admonished her once she had got her to sit back down on the bench. "How come you're spending so much time with Ryan?" She continued, cutting right to the chase.

Haley sighed heavily, not wanting to admit why she really was spending so much time with Ryan, especially as she hadn't told Nathan about the gym yet, let alone Ryan's crazy idea to get her to run the marathon. "Who said I was spending so much time with him?" She asked, wanting to defer the point where she would actually have to come up with an excuse for as long as she possibly could.

"Well no one's actually said it…" Brooke started.

"So why are you suggesting that I am?" Haley returned with a raised eyebrow.

Brooke rolled her eyes, unwilling to be deterred from her attack. "Well I know something's going on."

"And how do you know that?" Haley asked as she placed her left hand on her hip, adopting what she hoped was a threatening stance, which was quite hard considering she was sitting on a bench and Brooke was towering above her in her much taller chair.

Brooke smiled wryly at Haley before launching into her evidence. "Well for starters, there's the fact that you were running with him while he was off duty, so that was most certainly not a personal training session. Secondly, he just said that he was going to see you on Sunday; he said that he was on the late shift which I know for a fact doesn't start until two in the afternoon, yet he said he was going to meet up with you at twelve… and that's all before I start to even think about the way he was checking you out in the mirror while you were running."

Haley rolled her eyes at Brooke. "You're unbelievable!"

Brooke dropped her mouth open slightly. "How am I unbelievable?" She questioned.

"You really want me to go there?" Haley returned with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes actually, I do." Brooke responded as she folded her arms across her chest and waited for Haley to explain herself.

"Okay fine. Surely when you come to the gym you have better things to do than spy on me and what I am doing. Why me running on a treadmill which just happened to be next to the one that Ryan was running on interests you so much I'll never know, but nothing is going on between Ryan and me. Like I told you before, there is absolutely nothing to tell." Haley returned, feeling rather pleased with her little speech, hoping that it would shut Brooke up.

Brooke furrowed her brow. "Well what about his comment about seeing you on Sunday?"

"Well why wouldn't he see me on Sunday?" Haley returned in a slightly panicked voice, before regaining some control and managing to calm herself down slightly. "I plan on coming to the gym on Sunday, that's all." She continued in a much more casual voice.

"Okay, but he specified a time." Brooke replied, thinking out loud as she tried to piece the puzzle together in her head. Haley was hiding something, she was sure of it and she desperately wanted to find out what it was, especially if it meant she could work her magic matchmaking skills on her again. She was practically vibrating with excitement at that possibility.

Haley couldn't help the glare that she sent Brooke's way. Why was she being so nosy? Did it really matter that he had specified a time?

Brooke noticed the defiant stare that Haley threw her way and she smiled widely as something just clicked in her head. "You like him!" She shrieked.

"What?!" Haley returned incredulously, finding that she was incredibly surprised at how Brooke had suddenly come to that conclusion from what she had just told her. It was practically impossible, wasn't it? And besides, she didn't like Ryan…

"Oh my gosh, you so do like him!" Brooke screeched yet again as she jumped up from her chair and then proceeded to jump around the changing room, causing several of the women who were using the facilities to stare over at her with some very strange looks on their faces, wondering what all the screaming was about.

Haley grabbed onto one of Brooke's arms which were currently being flung around wildly in accordance with her current behaviour and once she had a firm enough grasp on it, she yanked her back down into her chair. "Brooke for crying out loud will you please just stop acting like an idiot. People are staring." She hissed at her.

Brooke glowered at Haley and then looked around, noticing that people were indeed looking rather strangely at her. However, she was too excited to care and shrugged her shoulders. "So what?" She returned, the smile spreading back over her face now that Haley's interruption was over. "You like Ryan!"

"I do not like Ryan, Brooke." Haley returned in an angry whisper. "And will you keep your voice down."

"Why? Don't you want people to know about your secret crush?" Brooke teased.

"Jesus Christ, you are such a child sometimes." Haley returned as she rolled her eyes.

"Oh my God, this is just perfect! You'd make such a cute couple." Brooke gushed, her imagination already running away with her.

"Brooke! Will you please just shut the hell up? I do not like him." Haley responded, only she was sure her words were now falling on deaf ears, even if what she was saying was the truth, which it was, wasn't it?

Brooke carried on, pretending that she hadn't heard Haley. She knew that Haley did like him; it was so obvious to her now she thought about it. "He likes you too, I'm sure of it; you should have seen the way he was looking at you while you were running… it was so cute!"

Haley couldn't help the blush that began to cover her cheeks, but she immediately turned her head away from Brooke, not wanting her to see the way she was reacting to that piece of information. She stood up and opened her locker, pulling out her towel, the shampoo and conditioner quickly, breathing in deeply a few times as she waited for the colour in her cheeks to die down. The curiosity was eating away inside of her, and for some completely unknown reason, she found herself wanting to ask Brooke about it some more. She knew that she was just fuelling the fire; she knew that she should have the ability to be stronger than she was being, but she couldn't help herself. She didn't like Ryan in the way that Brooke was insinuating, she was sure of it, but it was always nice to know that someone was interested in you, wasn't it? She twisted her head and glanced over her shoulder at Brooke, pausing for a brief second before she knew she couldn't hold off asking for a second longer. "He was looking at me?" She asked, wincing instantly at how girly her voice sounded.

Brooke was sure that her face was going to crack she was grinning so much. "I knew it!" She screamed in excitement, feeling incredibly satisfied that Haley had all but confirmed what she knew already.

Haley shook her head incredulously as she rolled her eyes, feeling incredibly disappointed in herself for not having enough willpower to stop herself from asking about a damn boy she didn't even like. She slammed her locker door shut and walked away from Brooke towards the showers.

"I told you that you'd fall for him Haley!" Brooke shouted to her retreating body, still grinning like the village idiot. It seemed that her matchmaking skills were required after all, and she was more than happy to be back in business.

Haley locked herself away in a cubicle and switched the shower on, allowing the warm water to rush over her body. She was absolutely livid with herself for walking right into that one, and she was furious with Brooke for not being able to leave things alone. But among all that anger that was coursing through her body, she couldn't help but feel excited about what Brooke had revealed. She frowned as she realised that she felt that way, but quickly dismissed it as being something that every girl felt when someone told them a guy was looking at them. It made you feel good about yourself, you felt almost empowered in that moment, bold and brave, which was exactly how she had felt when Brooke had told her that Ryan had been looking at her, that was all, because, as she kept on telling herself, she did not like Ryan like that...

~*~

Haley finished work the following day at quarter past six . She had just sent a text to Nathan, letting him know that she was going to head down to the bar earlier than usual as she didn't really want to have to wait for him to emerge from his office building for half an hour at least. He'd been working ridiculous hours again this week, but he had promised her that he would be at the bar tonight after having missed last Friday's get together, which she was obviously pleased about.

She had just walked into the bar when she felt her phone vibrate from her bag. She rooted around in her bag, eventually finding her phone and pulled it out as she walked in the general direction of the table where the gang usually sat, reading the text she had just received from Nathan as she walked.

_I promise I'll be there. N_

She smiled happily as she read the text and then glanced up once she reached the table, finding Brooke and Peyton already seated. "Hey guys." She greeted them as she scooted into the booth.

"Tell me he's coming this week." Brooke said as she took a sip of her drink, noticing that Haley had walked into the bar without Nathan in toe.

"He is, he just text me to let me know he's going to be here." Haley responded. "Where are the boys?" She asked, noticing that Lucas and Jake were nowhere to be seen.

"Julian finally got that pool table he has been promising them." Peyton answered. "So it looks like we're going to have to relocate to a new table each Friday from now on at the back of the bar."

"You're joking." Haley returned. "Are they playing now?"

"Oh yes they are playing, and we can move ourselves now that you're here; we only sat here so you'd find us." Brooke responded as she pushed Haley out of the booth.

"God, please don't let Nathan see the damn pool table, we won't be able to get him off the stupid thing." Haley moaned, sensing that tonight was going to be a late one.

"Let's see if he actually graces us with his presence first." Brooke replied sarcastically as she led the way towards the new pool table.

"Brooke, he said he was coming." Haley returned as she followed Brooke and Peyton through to the back of the bar.

"I know you did." Brooke returned casually as she placed her drink down on the table beside the new pool table, where Lucas and Jake's beer bottles were currently sat. "What time did he say he'd be here?"

"Well he didn't specify a time; he just said he'd be here." Haley responded as she slipped herself onto one of the stools which was surrounding the table, waving at Jake and Lucas who were engrossed in a game of pool.

At half past eight , Haley was just about ready to give up waiting for Nathan to show. Brooke had been annoying her all evening with talk of the gym and Ryan and she'd had just about enough of her endless chatter. She had been twiddling her phone in her hands ever since seven o'clock , waiting for him to call her or text her, just to get in contact with her and let her know that he was either on his way, or he wasn't coming at all. She really didn't want to bother him, she didn't want to be whiney and needy but he had promised her that he would be here and she was feeling incredibly disappointed that he hadn't arrived as yet, and the more the minutes ticked on, the less likely it was looking that he would come tonight at all.

She sighed heavily as she twisted her phone between her fingers again before biting down on her lip and opening up a text message. She stared at the blank screen, wondering what she should say, all the while fighting with the feeling that she shouldn't be saying anything to him at all. She knew how busy he was, she knew how stressed he was, and her annoying him wouldn't help matters at all. Yet she just wanted to know if he was planning on coming or not, that way at least she would just know either way and then if he wasn't going to turn up she could try to enjoy the night without him anyway.

She typed out a message, just a simple 'are you coming' and was literally just about to press the send button when her phone started flashing at her and Nathan's name came up on the screen. "Okay, that's freaky; I was literally just about to send you a text!" She said once she had placed her phone next to her ear.

"Hey gorgeous. Were you?" Nathan responded as he frowned at the table where the gang usually sat, seeing it filled with strangers rather than the familiar faces of his friends.

"Yeah I was." Haley responded as she took a sip of her vodka and diet coke.

"Where the hell are you guys? Some weird people are sitting in our normal spot?" Nathan questioned as he turned around and made his way towards the bar, pulling his wallet out of his back pocket with his free hand, getting his card ready to be placed behind the bar for the tab.

"You're here?" Haley asked as she placed her drink back down on the table.

"Yeah I am but it doesn't seem that you guys are!" Nathan observed as he glanced around from his new position at the bar, still not spotting any of the gang.

"Oh we're here; we're just round the back." Haley responded.

"Why?" Nathan asked, wondering why the tradition had suddenly been broken. They always sat at that table, why change things now? Just then, Julian caught his eye from behind the bar. "Never mind, what are you guys drinking?" He asked. "I guess I'm paying for tonight."

"The girls are drinking vodka and diet cokes, the boys are drinking beer." Haley returned. "And given that you're extremely late, of course you're paying for tonight, you know the rules."

Nathan just rolled his eyes. "Okay, I'll be round in a second."

"Okay, oh and Nathan?" Haley said quickly, hoping to catch him before he hung up.

"I know, I know, diet not normal coke." Nathan said with a sigh.

"Okay, I'll see you in a minute." Haley giggled as she hung up her phone.

Nathan shook his head as he placed his phone back in his pocket, and then glanced up to find Julian still waiting for him to place his drinks order. "Can I get three vodka and diet cokes and three beers dude? How was the break?" He asked.

"It was good, relaxing but glad to be back, you know?" Julian responded as he grabbed the glasses and started to prepare the drinks. "How are things with you?"

Nathan chuckled dryly. "Hectic." He responded as he ran a hand through his hair.

Julian chuckled as he handed Nathan the vodka and diet cokes and then pulled three bottles of beer from the fridge. "Well I think you're going to like what's waiting for you in the back." He said cryptically.

Nathan frowned as he handed Julian his card so that he could swipe it through the machine. "Huh?" He asked, confused as to what the hell Julian was going on about.

"You've been going on about it for long enough; I thought I'd save myself the ear ache." Julian said as he opened the bottles of beer and placed them on the bar alongside the glasses of vodka and coke.

Nathan felt his mouth drop open. "You got the pool table?" He asked, unable to hide the excitement from his voice.

Julian laughed at his reaction. "I got the pool table." He confirmed as he swiped Nathan's card through the machine.

"No way!" Nathan said happily, grabbing the drinks in his arms, wanting to go and see the pool table for himself. "That's brilliant!" He said as he started to walk away.

"Hey Nathan." Julian called after his quickly retreating figure.

Nathan quickly spun around and saw that Julian was waving his bank card in the air at him. He sheepishly returned to the bar and placed the drinks down so he could put it back in his wallet. "Thanks dude." He said sheepishly as he picked up the drinks for the second time.

~*~

"So what are you going to wear to the gym on Sunday?" Brooke asked Haley quietly as she watched Lucas and Jake play pool.

Haley rolled her eyes and stared at Brooke incredulously. It had been non-stop all evening and she was getting tired of talking about the gym, and Ryan for that matter. "Brooke, you know I only have two gym outfits, so chances are I'll be wearing one of them." She snapped back, her agitation at the topic of conversation becoming more and more apparent each time Brooke asked her a question about it. "Can we please talk about something different?" She hissed, well aware that Nathan was nearby, and she didn't want him to know about the gym just yet, and she certainly didn't want him to hear about it from Brooke of all people. She then turned around in her seat, facing away from Brooke, hoping that she would get the hint that the conversation was over.

"Well I obviously know that, but which one?" Brooke pressed. "I totally think you should wear the second one you tried on, you look better in it and besides, you wore the other one on Thursday. Maybe you should get some more." She mused.

Haley had heard enough. She spun around on her stool quickly and glared at Brooke. "For crying out loud Brooke. I don't give a shit about what you think I should or shouldn't wear okay, so just shut the hell up, I don't want to talk about it anymore." She barked, folding her arms across her chest in the process of her snapping, hoping her stance and her words combined would make Brooke realise that the subject was officially closed.

Nathan's glee at seeing the pool table was quickly shadowed when he turned and spotted the table where the girls were sitting, finding Haley obviously snapping to Brooke about something. He could tell she was angry and he instantly felt his blood begin to boil. He quickly walked over to where the girls were sitting; wanting to find out what was going on as soon as he could. "Hey gorgeous." He said as he placed the drinks down on the table, not forgetting to glare at Brooke, trying to gauge the situation as best he could when Haley turned around to face him. She smiled at him, and it was obvious that she was pleased to see him, but he could still see the irritation simmering away behind her eyes.

Haley sighed quickly before plastering a smile across her face, not wanting Nathan to see that she was pissed off about anything, because she didn't want to have to lie to him, nor did she want to have to tell him about the gym tonight either. She turned around to face him, and could see that he knew something was wrong, he had that inquisitive look on his face, his eyes were searching hers and she knew that he was trying to figure out what was the matter with her. "You came at last!" She said as she pulled him into a hug, hoping that her change of mood would distract him enough for him to stop worrying about her.

"I told you I was coming." Nathan returned as he held her tight to him, placing a kiss on the top of her head, glancing over at Brooke as he did so, who was busy chatting to Peyton. "What's wrong gorgeous?" He asked as he pulled her away from his body and looked into her eyes.

"Nothing's wrong Nathan." Haley returned and then smiled at him again. "I was just worried you were going to be working late again." She continued, pleased that she wasn't really lying to him because she had been worried about that, among other things.

"Why were you shouting at Brooke then?" Nathan asked as he raised his eyebrow at her, wanting to get to the bottom of this as quickly as was possible.

"I wasn't shouting at Brooke." Haley responded.

"Yes you were, I just saw you." Nathan countered, wishing that she would just tell him so he could shout at Brooke for her and really shut her up.

"We weren't." Haley continued as she spun her body around and picked up her drink that Nathan had just delivered, wanting to talk about something else. She took a sip of it and smiled at him. "You got the diet this time."

"Well I wasn't going to have a repeat of what happened the last time I was in here." Nathan returned as he picked up his beer bottle and took a swig of it.

"I guess not." Haley responded. "Why don't you go and play with Lucas and Jake?"

Nathan spun around and could see that Lucas and Jake were nearing the end of a game, and he could feel his body itching to join them, before he turned back to face Haley. "You sure you're okay?" He asked, knowing she'd say yes, and he obviously wouldn't believe her, but now that he was here at least he could keep an eye on her and Brooke, and could have a word with Brooke later if he felt it was necessary.

"I promise I'm fine. Go." Haley said as she picked up the remaining two beer bottles and thrust them into Nathan's body so he could give then to Lucas and Jake, pushing him towards the pool table as she did so.

~*~

As soon as Nathan saw Brooke get up from the table where the girls were sitting and walk towards the bar, he quickly took his shot, potting the ball in the bottom left hand corner and then threw his cue to Jake. "Here, take my shots for me for a minute." He instructed as he ran after Brooke and squeezed into the busy bar beside her, taking the opportunity that she was now away from Haley to find out what the hell was going on between them tonight.

"Oh hey Nathan, did you want a drink?" Brooke asked once she realised that he was standing next to her, before frowning at the look he was giving her, wondering what she had done wrong now.

"What have you been saying to Haley?" Nathan demanded, cutting right to the chase. He had known the minute he walked into the bar that Haley had been annoyed about something, so he had kept a firm eye on her all evening and his observations combined with Brooke's behaviour had made it more than apparent that it was something she had been saying to her.

Brooke sighed heavily and rolled her eyes at Nathan. "I've not been saying anything." She protested.

"Don't give me that shit Brooke, I've been watching you all night." Nathan returned, his patience with her already waning severely. He knew that he needed to keep his cool but if Haley was upset about something he would do whatever was necessary to sort the problem out, and right now, the problem rested with Brooke, yet again. He had kept a close eye on Haley and Brooke all night and could see that Haley was annoyed about something Brooke was saying to her repeatedly it seemed, he just didn't have any idea what it was.

"What can I get you?" Sarah asked as she threw a smile over in Nathan's direction.

Brooke smiled back at Sarah, and despite the fact that Nathan was glowering at her; she still felt that whoosh of excitement run through her body at the thought of getting Sarah and Nathan together. She soon pushed that thought aside though, and realised that she was more than a little grateful for the interruption of her interrogation by Nathan. "Three vodka and diet cokes please." She answered and watched as Sarah grabbed some glasses and poured the vodka into them, doing her best to ignore Nathan who practically had steam coming from his ears.

"Well?" Nathan asked, barely noticing Sarah smiling at him again as she poured the diet coke into the three glasses.

"Well nothing Nathan. It's girl talk. What's it to you anyway?" Brooke asked defiantly, well aware of the fact that Nathan still didn't know about the gym, so she couldn't very well tell him about Ryan even if she had wanted to, and she was also acutely aware of the fact that if he even caught wind of the fact that she was trying to set Haley up again he'd probably go ape shit on her, much like he had done the last time she had unsuccessfully tried to set Haley up with Damien, which she still blamed Haley for, although now she at least had Ryan to concentrate her efforts on.

Nathan continued to glare at Brooke, incredibly annoyed at the fact that she wasn't letting him know what was wrong with Haley, sure that something other than 'girl talk' was really the matter. He huffed at her before he was interrupted by Sarah.

"Here you are, can I get you anything Nathan?" Sarah asked as she placed the three drinks down in front of Brooke and waited expectantly for him to give her his order, taking the opportunity to run her eyes quickly over his body.

Nathan breathed in deeply, still glaring at Brooke for not letting him know what she had been saying to Haley. "No." He responded to Sarah, before realising that he was being slightly rude given the annoyed tone of his voice. "Thanks." He added quickly, throwing a smile in her direction briefly before returning his penetrating stare to Brooke as he leaned forward towards her. "Just leave her alone okay? She's got enough on her plate at the moment without you pouring more of your shit onto her, right?" He warned through gritted teeth, knowing that he was putting some of his guilt at not being home with Haley enough lately on Brooke, which was not her fault at all, but still, that didn't matter when Haley was obviously getting upset and angry about something she was saying to her.

"Nathan, you can't be so damn protective of Haley all of the time." Brooke returned, knowing that his actions were incredibly sweet and all but he'd suffocate Haley completely if he wasn't careful.

"Believe me Brooke, I can, and I will, especially after all she's been through. So back the hell off." Nathan responded, the fury at Brooke running through his body so fiercely that he knew he needed to back off too before he said or did something he'd later regret. He then turned around and headed back to the pool table, snatching his cue from Jake and leaning down to take his shot, continuing to glare at Brooke as she walked back towards where Haley and Peyton were waiting for her.

~*~

Nathan had managed to calm himself down completely by quarter to midnight , and was thrashing both Jake and Lucas at pool, which was hardly surprising. He'd managed to avoid Brooke all night, save for the episode at the bar, which he was grateful for, but he still kept his watchful eye on Haley all night, and it seemed that Brooke had got the message, as he hadn't seen Haley get upset about anything else since he had spoken with Brooke at the bar. He leaned down and potted the black in the centre right pocket and held out his hand to Lucas and Jake, who even when playing together still couldn't beat him. He watched as they both placed a twenty dollar bill in his hands. "Thank you." He said with a grin, before pocketing his winnings.

"Okay, I'm done for the night." Lucas said as he held his hands up in mock surrender, not wanting to lose anymore money to his brother. He wandered over to where the girls were sitting and wrapped his arms around Brooke's body from behind, placing a kiss on her cheek.

Jake and Nathan followed him to the table, Jake grabbing Peyton by the hands and pulling her up from her seat. "You ready to head home?" He asked.

Peyton nodded her head and grabbed her coat. "I'll see you guys soon." She said and then followed Jake back through the main bar.

"We should start to make a move too." Brooke said as she leaned back against Lucas' body.

"Sure." Lucas said as he unwrapped his arms from around her shoulders and helped her off her stool. "See you guys next week."

Haley waved to both Lucas and Brooke and sighed as she sipped the last of her drink. She then stood up from her stool and grabbed her coat.

"Where the hell are you going?" Nathan asked.

Haley turned around to face him, pulling her arm through the sleeve of her coat as she did so. "Home?" She questioned.

"How about a game of pool?" Nathan asked, his eyebrow quirked up in challenge.

Haley moaned. "Nathan, I really don't think that's a good idea, do you?"

"Why not?" Nathan protested.

"Because this place closes in about ten minutes, and you know that you hate losing to me, so one game becomes three, which becomes five, which becomes seven… there's just not enough time." Haley explained as she placed one of her hands on her hips.

"Who said anything about losing?" Nathan returned in a cocky voice.

Haley raised her own eyebrow at him and laughed. "I did."

"Well I think you're wrong. I won't lose." Nathan responded.

"Yes you will." Haley returned knowingly.

"Care to prove that?" Nathan asked as he walked over to the pool table and grabbed the cues, holding one out to Haley.

Haley stared at the cue Nathan was holding out to her before she looked up at Nathan's face, seeing the cocky grin spread right across his mouth and she shook her head at him. "I'm only agreeing to this because I want to hear you admit that you were wrong." She said as she took the cue from his outstretched hand.

"You'll be waiting a long time for that gorgeous." Nathan responded as he put some money in the machine and began to organise the balls into the triangle.

"We'll see." Haley replied as she picked up the cue ball and placed it behind the line. "Best of three, loser has to buy the other dinner in a restaurant of their choice tomorrow night, and obviously the winner also gets bragging rights."

"Deal." Nathan responded as he lifted the triangle away from the table and took a step back, glancing up at Haley, who was already in position. "And who the hell said you get to break?"

"I did." Haley said as she took her first shot before Nathan could even begin to protest again, jumping in the air when she potted the first ball. "I'm spots, you're stripes."

Julian walked around the corner twenty minutes later just in time for him to see Haley win the game. "Congratulations Haley." He said as he collected all the glasses from the tables. "We've locked the front door so you'll have to use the back exit."

"Well it looks like you're just going to have to admit that you lost to me in one game instead of three Nathan." Haley said with a grin as she placed her cue on the table and walked over to grab her coat again.

"Oh no way!" Nathan responded, before quickly turning to Julian. "You don't mind if we stay and play for a while do you?" He pleaded with him. "We're playing the best of three and I can't let her win!"

"Excuse me! Why the hell can't I win?" Haley exclaimed as she marched over to Nathan and prodded him in the chest, before turning to face Julian. "Just ignore him, he's a sore loser."

"I am not a sore loser, because I haven't lost Hales." Nathan responded grumpily.

Haley twisted her head until she was able to see Nathan and raised her eyebrows at him. "Who just won that game?" She asked.

"You did." Nathan responded.

"Exactly." Haley replied with a grin.

Julian shook his head at them both as he walked out of the area, his hands full of glasses and bottles. "You guys can stay and play if you want, just as long as you drop the keys off tomorrow morning at my place." He called over his shoulder as he threw the bottles away and placed the glasses next to the washer, washing his hands under the tap before he grabbed the keys to the bar, holding out the one that locked the back door as he walked back to where Nathan and Haley were.

Nathan grabbed the keys from his hand and turned to face Haley, who was looking at him disapprovingly. "Excellent, and I'll get these back to you by nine in the morning." Nathan responded as he picked up Haley's cue and handed it back to her.

Haley sighed and turned to face Julian. "Are you sure we can stay?" She asked.

"Sure you can, besides, I've already got Nathan's card run through the machine so if anything's missing I can charge it straight to him." Julian responded as he winked at Haley.

Haley giggled. "Alright then, we won't be long anyway seeing as I'll win the next game and will therefore be crowned the winner. He's only delaying the inevitable; I'm far too good at this game for him to win." Haley said as she threw her coat back on the stool, before she pointed her cue at Nathan and smiled over at him in victory already, even though she had another game to win yet.

"Quit your jabbering and let's get playing." Nathan responded. "Thanks dude." He said to Julian.

"No problem. I'm off so I'll see you guys later." Julian said as he grabbed his coat and headed towards the back exit.

"Where's Sarah?" Haley asked, wondering if there was anyone else left in the building.

"Oh she left about ten minutes ago." Julian responded.

"Oh okay. See you next week." Haley called after his retreating figure and then heard the back door slam shut.

"So it's my turn to break, right?" Nathan said and watched as Haley nodded her head. He placed some more money in the machine and let Haley organise the balls this time. There was no way he was going to lose to her; he just needed to get his head in gear, that was all. He took his cufflinks out of his shirt and walked over to where his suit jacket was hung up, placing them in the inside pocket, before rolling up the sleeves to his shirt to his elbows.

"Oh look, he's getting serious." Haley teased while she watched Nathan roll up his sleeves. She got the balls ready for their next game, unable to hide the grin from her face. She was going to take this game easily, she was sure of it. She lifted the triangle up off the table and placed it back underneath before stepping away.

"Mock me all you want gorgeous, I'm going to win the next two games." Nathan said determinedly as he walked to the other end of the table and placed the cue ball in the circle, taking his shot and watching in satisfaction as one of the balls fell into one of the pockets. He lifted his body up from the table and smiled over at Haley. "This time, I'm spots, you're stripes." He said.

Ten minutes later, Haley groaned as she missed the pocket yet again. "God! What the hell is wrong with me?" She yelled as she stomped her foot down on the floor in frustration at herself.

"You suck, that's what's wrong gorgeous." Nathan smirked as he walked around the pool table and struck the ball, watching in satisfaction as the last of his spotted balls sunk into the pocket.

"I do not suck Nathan! I beat you on the last game!" Haley protested. "Did you steal my cue?" She asked, sure that something must have changed since the previous game they had played, as she was sure she couldn't go from being that good to then being as rubbish as she was currently being in the space of half an hour or so, it was simply impossible.

Nathan rolled his eyes as he took the last shot and watched the black ball roll into the bottom left corner. "Game." He said, unable to hide the happiness at winning from his voice as he lifted himself off the table, glancing gleefully at how many striped balls were left on the table with a smirk before turning to Haley. "That's an awful lot of your balls still on the table Hales. What happened to you being too good for me to win at this game?" He asked with raised eyebrows, repeating her earlier words right back to her.

"Oh shut the hell up." Haley responded as she rolled her eyes at him. "I'll win this round, you'll see. And give me your cue too."

Nathan chuckled at her as he swapped cues with her. "You know it won't make the blind bit of difference gorgeous." He said as he put some more money into the machine, before heading to the bottom of the table to organise the balls.

Haley raised her eyebrow at Nathan and grabbed the cue ball, placing it down on the table, while she waited impatiently for him to finish with the triangle. She chalked up her cue and blew on it before leaning down, lining up the perfect shot, striking the ball as soon as Nathan had stepped away from the table, potting a striped ball this time instead of a spotted one. "Damn it, I wanted to be spots." She muttered, sure that the striped balls were cursed, given that both she and Nathan had lost when they were playing with them. She then walked over to where Nathan was standing and lined up her next shot.

Nathan knew that he should have moved out of her way, but he didn't want to. He watched as she glanced over her shoulder at him in irritation and he just shrugged his shoulders, allowing his eyes to rest on her ass again once she turned her head back, finding that he was unable to help the heat of anticipation which ran through his body. She really did have a perfect ass, not too big, not too small, and the skirt she was wearing skimmed over it wonderfully. He found that his fingers were twitching at his sides, longing to reach out and touch it. He frowned as the realisation that he was staring at her ass hit him, they had played pool together a thousand times before and the sight of her ass in front of him had never bothered him any of those times, so why the hell was he finding that he was getting so turned on by it now?

Haley furrowed her brow as she missed the shot. "Shit." She muttered under her breath before straightening herself out and moving out of the way. She walked over to where the chalk was on the other side of the table and rubbed it on her cue. She frowned at Nathan, who was still standing in the same position she had left him in. "Nathan?" She said, seeing him visibly jump at her interruption. "It's your go."

Nathan heard Haley jolt him out of his daydreaming and he shook his head at himself, clearing all of the completely ridiculous thoughts from his head. Now was so not the time for him to be questioning why he was looking at his best friend's backside, let alone the time to even be looking at his best friend's backside. He had a game of pool to win. He licked his lips, aware that his mouth suddenly felt far too dry and he walked over to where the cue ball had landed.

Haley watched as he lined up his next shot, seeing that his tongue was poking out of the corner of his mouth. She smiled at him, aware that the look currently covering his face was his vast concentration look. She watched as he potted one of his spotted balls and she sighed to herself as she watched him take another go, potting yet another ball.

Nathan was well aware that he should be gloating about his winning streak. Haley had only potted two balls and he had potted six, nope; make that seven of his balls. He pulled himself up from the table and glanced over at Haley who was chalking up her cue. In any other circumstance, he would currently be boasting constantly at how good he was and how rubbish she was playing, but something had changed. The entire atmosphere of the room had changed, well, at least for him it had anyway. He had no idea if Haley could feel the change too, but given that to him it was all consuming, the electricity that was filling the air was almost palpable to him, he was absolutely positive that she had to be able to feel it too. He stared intently at her and watched as she glanced over in his direction, and his eyes met hers. He smiled shyly at her and then looked down at the table quickly, finding himself instantly bothered at how much he was letting her get to him in the past ten minutes. He watched her miss another of her shots, before he took his next shot, but his mind was milling around with too many confusing thoughts, and he missed. He instantly told himself to focus on the game at hand, after all, it was just Haley and he most certainly shouldn't be getting this worked up about his best friend Haley.

Haley breathed a sigh of relief as she watched Nathan miss, but she was well aware that she was in no position to say anything, not until he had missed at least a few more shots and she had potted a few more balls. She walked around the table and leaned down to take her shot, smiling to herself as she watched the ball fall into the pocket. She then turned her head and looked over at her shoulder at Nathan from underneath her eyelashes and caught his eye, seeing that he was smiling to himself about something. "What?" She asked.

Nathan raised his eyebrows at her, surprised that she had caught him smiling at her, before realising that it was something he did all the time, and he managed to collect himself quickly. "That was a good pot." He said.

"I know." Haley returned, smiling up at him proudly as she lifted herself up from the table and walked to the edge of the room, eyeing up her next shot.

"You're still losing though." Nathan returned, well aware that he was pointing out the obvious but he desperately wanted to get back to the banter they usually shared; he hoped that he would be able to calm his ridiculous thoughts down if things were to go back to how they always were between them for a bit.

Haley glared at him as she walked in front of him and leaned down to prepare herself for another shot. "I know that too." She said stiffly.

Nathan had to fight to keep his eyes up instead of letting them do what they wanted to do, which was look down at her ass, which was right there in front of him again. He probably should have moved away from her, much like he should have done the last time she had stopped in front of him, but somehow he found that his feet were rooted to the spot unexplainably once again. He cleared his throat, hoping that it would somehow help to clear the indecent thoughts he was currently having about her too. "Which one are you going for?" He asked in a strained voice.

"Blue." Haley replied, concentrating too much on the game to notice the strange tone of Nathan's voice as she started to move her elbow back and forth, getting ready to take the shot.

"Why not go for the yellow?" Nathan asked, trying desperately to keep his thoughts innocent, but somehow found that they were wandering to that list that he had written a couple of weeks ago. He instantly connected the thoughts of Haley and the list together, which now he thought about it, was to be expected given their current surroundings, and that made him feel a hell of a lot better than he had done five minutes ago, and curiously, a lot bolder too.

"Because the blue is the easier shot." Haley responded as she took the shot and smiled to herself when the ball went in the pocket. She turned around to face Nathan, leaning back against the pool table with a wide smile spread across her face, which quickly changed when she saw the look that he was currently giving her. She continued to stare back at him, well aware that the silence which was currently surrounding them was in fact completely deafening. She wasn't sure how much time passed but it seemed like an eternity. She watched Nathan's chest rise and fall with the increased force of his breathing. She watched as he eyes ran up and down the entire length of her body, and subconsciously she ran her hands down her skirt, straightening it out, before leaning her hands back against the pool table, unknowingly jutting her breasts out in process. She watched as Nathan's eyes travelled slowly up her body again, feeling the heat from his scorching gaze burn her skin and she had to fight to hold in the gasp that nearly escaped from her mouth when his eyes met hers again, for he had practically melted her with his smouldering eyes. "It went in." She said quietly, needing to say something to break this silence they were currently trapped in. She licked her lips unknowingly as she watched him take a step towards her, curious as to why her heart rate picked up suddenly with that one small movement of his, wondering why that action had caused her breath to catch in her throat.

"I know it did." Nathan returned, suddenly not caring about the game of pool they were currently playing in the slightest. He took another step forward and smirked when he heard Haley whimper quietly; enjoying this new game far more than the one they had just been playing. He silently took her cue from her hands and placed it on the table along with his, then wrapped his arm around her waist and hoisted her up until she was sitting on the edge of the table. He parted her knees with his hands and stood in between them, before leaning down slowly, hovering above her skin for a second before he placed a feather light kiss on her neck.

It was like he had caught her in a trance. Haley knew that he was parting her legs; she knew that he had moved to stand in between them and she could feel his breath fanning over her skin, but she was rendered completely helpless to stop any of it. It wasn't until she felt his lips land on her neck, and she closed her eyes in satisfaction at the feelings he was evoking from deep inside of her that she suddenly jolted them open and tried to push Nathan away, only she hadn't realised that he had pinned her hands down to the table with his own. "Nathan… what are you doing?" She asked timidly as she tried to move her neck away from his mouth unsuccessfully.

"Our arrangement." Nathan muttered back to her as he moved his mouth along the side of her neck, nipping and biting his way along her skin until he got to her pulse point, running his tongue languorously around it before sucking down on it with his mouth.

Haley couldn't help the soft moan that escaped from her mouth; her pulse point was one of her sweet spots, which Nathan seemed to have learned extremely quickly. She tried desperately to hang onto the thoughts that were running distantly through her mind, finding that they were being almost clouded completely with thoughts of pleasure and desire. "But it's not Saturday." She managed to get out, surprised at the raspy tone of her voice.

"It is Saturday gorgeous. It's gone midnight ." Nathan mumbled as he moved his mouth up towards her ear, gripping her earlobe between his teeth and tugging on it slightly. "Do you want to?" He whispered in her ear.

Haley moaned as she felt him tug on her earlobe, before he whispered hotly in her ear. She tried to rationalise her thoughts, he was right, it had gone midnight so this wasn't really going against the rules. She furrowed her brow as she continued to recite the list of rules in her head, immediately finding a hole in his logic. "But sex on a pool table isn't on my list." She said in a complete panic, wondering why the hell he was initiating this in the first place. She was just about ready to wrestle her hands free from his grasp and push him away from her, and she was three seconds away from yelling at him for breaking the rules when she felt his mouth move along her skin, which immediately shut her up, because damn that felt so good.

Nathan could feel the tension running through her entire body and he chuckled as he moved his mouth back down to her neck. "Just relax gorgeous. I'm not breaking any rules." He mumbled against her skin as he left soft kisses along her neck.

"But it's not on my list." Haley protested again, beginning to struggle with him as she tried to free her hands from his grip unsuccessfully.

Nathan pulled his mouth away from her neck and looked her in the eyes. "Who said anything about your list Hales?" He said, waiting for the realisation to hit her. He chuckled when her eyes grew wide and leaned his mouth back down to her neck, pushing her blouse away from her shoulder slightly with his nose so that he could kiss her there too, feeling her body instantly relax under his touch.

Haley moaned as she felt his teeth nip at her skin, instantly feeling relieved that the rules were still in tact. Why he wanted to have sex on a pool table, she didn't know, and she would have questioned him about it, but then she thought of her own list and she realised she wouldn't be able to explain a heap of what was written on that herself, so instead she pushed her curiosity out of her mind and concentrated on what he was doing to her, which wasn't difficult in the slightest. She felt his hands loosen their grip on her wrists and she instantly moved them behind her so that she could lean back a little, hitting a ball that had been left on the table from their earlier game in the process, feeling Nathan's mouth move back up to her neck from her shoulder. "What about the game?" She moaned as she felt his mouth begin to move across her skin again.

Nathan chuckled against her skin. "I concede."

Haley giggled as she felt his laugh vibrate on her neck, the sensation sending a shiver of pleasure right down her spine. "So does that mean I win?" She asked as she pushed herself up into an upright position, causing Nathan to step back slightly. She wrapped her hands around his neck and pushed her fingers inside the collar of his shirt, running her fingernails lightly along the skin at the back of his neck.

"Yes, that means you win." Nathan responded as he rolled his eyes.

Haley bit down on her lip in an effort to stop the smile from spreading across her face, before she composed herself. She pulled her fingers out of his collar and ran her hands down over his shoulders, until she got to the first button of his shirt and pushed it through the hole, unbuttoning it. She then moved down to the next one. "So you're taking me out for dinner tomorrow night?" She asked as she looked up at him from underneath her eyelashes, continuing to unbutton his shirt.

Nathan was unable to take his eyes off her face. He wouldn't be afraid to admit to anyone that she looked as sexy as hell at the moment even thought she was his best friend and he probably shouldn't be thinking such things. He completely transfixed by her, she could probably have asked him to do almost anything in that moment and he would have agreed. He could feel her tugging at his shirt and he realised that she was taking it off him, which meant that she wanted to do this; she wanted to fuck on the pool table. He felt himself get impossibly hard at the thought of taking her right here and he could feel his breathing become more laboured as the images of what was about to happen flashed in his head.

"Well?" Haley asked as she popped the last button through the hole and then ran her hands back up his rock solid chest. He really did have a phenomenal body, how he had the time to keep himself this toned and work the hours he did she'd never know. She ran her fingertips over the bumps of his six pack, before running her hands back up to his shoulders, pushing the shirt off his body, tugging where he had rolled the sleeves up at his elbows to get it off him. She then threw it down onto the floor once she had removed it from his body and then rested her hands on the table again, slightly behind her body, her eyes running appreciatively up and down his body.

Nathan cleared his throat, sure that if he tried to speak now he'd end up sounding like a squeaky teenager or something. He took a deep breath as he looked down at the woman in front of him, who was coming out of her shell more and more each week, something that he was incredibly proud of. She had practically been afraid to touch him the first time they'd had sex, and things were definitely changing for the better. "Of course, we can go anywhere you want." He responded just as Haley leaned forward and gripped his earlobe between her teeth, giving it a gentle tug.

Haley released her teeth from the grip they had on his earlobe and leaned back onto her hands again. "Anywhere?" She asked, wanting confirmation of what he had just said as she looked up at him, a smile playing at the corners of her mouth.

"Anywhere." Nathan affirmed and then brought his hand up to her face, tucking a wayward lock of hair behind her ear. He moved his hand softly down to her shoulder and brought the other hand up to undo the buttons on her red silk blouse. Each button he opened revealed more and more of her luscious skin, until he was met with the red lace of her bra. He licked his lips upon seeing it, before hastily undoing the rest of the buttons, practically wrestling with the soft silk material to get it off her as quickly as he could, wanting to admire her bra as soon as was possible.

Haley lifted her hands off the pool table so that he could remove her blouse from her body, and she watched as the red material floated down to the floor when he let go of it. She shook her head so that her hair fell over her shoulders behind her, and looked up at Nathan shyly, meeting his penetrating gaze. She watched as he took another step forwards in between her open legs until he couldn't move forward anymore. She was surprised at how much she wanted him to touch her, surprised at how desperate she was for his mouth to be on her skin, at how much she wanted to feel his weight on top of her, but further analysis of these thoughts was rendered completely useless when she felt his hand begin to play with the strap of her bra, gently pushing it off her left shoulder.

God if Nathan had his way Haley would always be wearing red underwear. There was something so sexy and dangerous about it, not to mention the fact that she looked absolutely phenomenal in it, but he knew for a fact that Haley would look perfect whatever she wore if he was being honest with himself. As he pushed her bra slowly down her left arm, he ran his eyes appreciatively up and down her torso, eventually removing his fingers from her bra strap once he got it halfway down her arm, before running his hand along her back until he reached the clasp, running his fingertips lightly over her skin just above the material, feeling her shiver slightly. "Cold?" He asked with a smirk as he licked his lips hungrily, before he slipped his hand underneath the right bra strap and moved that one down her arm as well. He then took a small step back from her and unclasped her bra, watching as it fell away from her body, revealing her glorious breasts to him. He watched as her nipples hardened for him and he knew that he wouldn't be able to keep his mouth free from her skin for much longer at all.

Haley raised her eyebrow at Nathan, not bothering to answer his question because the smirk that she saw on his face when he had asked her if she was cold confirmed the fact that he knew that she wasn't shivering because she was cold. It was him, his touch which had caused that reaction and he damn well knew it. She was about to berate him for his cocky behaviour but just as she opened her mouth to talk to him, she felt his mouth land on her shoulder, leaving a hot, wet kiss right on top of it, before his mouth began a trail down towards her breast. She gasped when she felt his mouth close around her nipple, which combined with the sensation of his feather light fingers running up her side until they softly caressed the underside of her breast, caused this tremor of pleasure to run right through the centre of her body, rendering her completely at his mercy, all thoughts of talking now so far from her mind she could barely remember what she was thinking, let alone what she was going to say to him.

Nathan moved his hand from the underside of her breast slowly up towards her nipple, and once he reached it he began to roll it in between his fingers, hearing Haley moan breathlessly as a result of his ministrations. He ran his tongue around the nipple which was currently in his mouth, before running his tongue right over it and then captured it between his teeth, giving it a slight tug, smirking at the reaction this evoked from Haley. He felt rather proud of himself that he was able to make her react that way to something he was doing to her, it made him feel good knowing that she felt good. He continued to play with her breasts, his mouth closing around one while he ran the pad of his other thumb right across the nipple which his hand was currently playing with.

"Oh God Nathan!" Haley cried out as she arched her back towards Nathan's body, pushing her breasts further into his mouth and hand, before she threw her head back in complete and utter surrender. She curled her fingers into a fist on the table, finding that she was gasping for breath as she struggled to reconcile the delicious mix of pleasure and pain that his actions were causing her to feel. She closed her eyes, licking her suddenly too dry lips as she panted, feeling nothing but desire run through her entire body.

Nathan continued to suck her nipple into his mouth, running his tongue around it once more before pulling away from her slightly, moving his mouth slowly over her skin until he got to her neck, nipping and biting his way along to her ear. He felt Haley sit up a bit straighter, her hands wrapping around his neck as she held him closer to her. He breathed in her scent, smelling the sweet mix of her vanilla body wash with the subtle scent of her perfume which clouded his head with unfamiliar thoughts, and at any other time he would have stopped to question why he was thinking about Haley in a way which best friends surely shouldn't, but he didn't allow himself to, not when she was clenching her fists in his hair, not when all he could hear was her ragged breathing, not when all he could feel was her warm breath fan out on his skin, and not when she was sat on a pool table, ready to tick the first item off his list, not her list this time.

Haley felt Nathan's mouth move along her neck and she couldn't help the moan that escaped from her mouth when she felt him bite down on her skin. She felt this surge of need and want flow through her body, overwhelming her with its force, the strength of her yearning building with each second that passed. She could feel herself getting wetter and wetter, she desperately wanted to rub her thighs together to create some friction but that was impossible as Nathan was standing in between them. She released her hands from his hair and moved them down his back, raking her nails over her skin, which Nathan seemed to like as she heard him groan into her neck. She didn't know why she felt slightly bolder than she usually did in these situations, maybe it was the fact that tonight it was about Nathan's list and not hers, maybe somehow, subconsciously that made her feel more empowered, knowing that she was going to do this for him instead of him doing something for her, or maybe it was just because she was getting more confident in general, but either way it didn't matter right now. She continued to lower her hands down his back until she got to the waistband of his trousers and she then bit down on her lip as she debated what she should do next as she felt his mouth pull away from her slightly, but still felt his warm breath hit her skin.

Nathan was fully aware of Haley's hands, the feeling of her fingernails raking slowly down his back caused his skin to burn with this fire of need for… something. He wouldn't allow himself to think that he was craving Haley, he couldn't do that, he couldn't allow himself to get that caught up in all this, he couldn't forget the fact that this was just an arrangement they had with each other, and once everything was ticked off both of their lists, things would simply go back to how they used to be, that was the deal, the whole point of this thing. But as he felt Haley's hands run around the waistband of his trousers, as he felt them near the buckle of his belt, he couldn't deny the fact that he wanted her to take his trousers off his body, he revelled in the feeling of her hands on his body. He felt her unbuckle the belt and then unfasten his trousers, before she hooked her fingers into both his boxers and his trousers at his hips, pulling them down his legs, allowing his now rock hard cock to be free from its confines and he instantly felt relieved and filled with anticipation. He felt Haley's mouth kiss his shoulder, as her hands began to move up his thigh, leaving his skin feeling hot and tingly, which only served to confuse him further.

Haley continued to move her hands up his thigh, her mouth leaving a trail of light kisses along his shoulder until she came to his neck, where she proceeded to place hot, wet kisses on every part of his neck she could reach. She felt Nathan loll his head back, sighing to himself as her fingers trailed up to his hips. She ran her tongue over his skin as her fingers traced over his pelvic bone, he mouth moving closer and closer to his ear as her hands moved closer and closer to his cock. Once she reached it she closed her eyes, hesitating slightly, suddenly feeling self-conscious and silly, but she willed herself to push those thoughts to the back of her mind and concentrate on making Nathan feel good, after all, it was his list they were using tonight, not hers.

Nathan could feel the anticipation building; he was holding his breath, unable to concentrate on anything else but her hand, moving so very slowly towards his impatient cock. He needed her hands to not only get there, but get there faster. He continued to hold his breath, oxygen no longer as necessary as waiting for her next actions and he closed his eyes, utterly desperate for some much needed friction, and his heart rate sped up exponentially, waiting for her to do what he needed her to. But then he felt her hesitate, her fingers stilled in their slow movement, halting completely and he immediately opened his eyes, knowing right away that she wasn't comfortable with what she had been about to do. "Gorgeous, you don't have to… fuck!" He cried out as he felt Haley's hand wrap around his cock and slowly move up towards the tip, before moving back down towards the base, allowing all the tension he had been feeling to melt away. Fuck that felt so good.

Haley smiled against his neck, pleased that this time she had been able to evoke that kind of reaction from him, rather than it being the other way around. She moved her hand back up and down his cock, speeding up her motions slightly with each pass, hearing Nathan groan in approval as her mouth continued to work his neck, nipping and biting her way along his skin until she got to the spot just below his ear. She was pumping his cock quite speedily now, and this time, as she moved her hand back up its length, she ran the pad of her thumb right over the tip.

"Shit!" Nathan gasped as he felt Haley's thumb circle the tip of his cock, before her hand began to move back down his length again. He closed his eyes and moved his hands from her body to the pool table, griping onto the edge of it, clenching his fists as he willed himself to calm down, but the feeling of her hand on his cock combined with her mouth on his neck was almost too much for him to take. He felt her hand repeat its action on his cock and he couldn't help the groan that escaped from his mouth. He then felt her mouth move up towards his ear, her teeth gripping around his earlobe as she tugged on it, causing this jolt of fire to run through his body.

"You like that Nathan?" Haley whispered hotly in his ear as she released her teeth from his earlobe, repeating the actions of her hand once again on his cock, and then, in another bold move, she traced her tongue up the edge of his ear, hearing him gasp at her in surprise, which made her unable to hold back the smile that spread across her face.

Nathan was unable to hold back any more. He closed his eyes and desperately tried to regain some control of his breathing. On the one hand, he really didn't want Haley to stop, because the feeling of her hand wrapped around his cock felt so good, almost too good, but on the other hand, he really didn't want to come like this; his fantasy was sex on a pool table, not get a hand job near a pool table. He opened his eyes having made his decision and moved his hands down his body, grabbing onto Haley's, stilling her motions. He fought the strong craving to just let go and allow her to continue and gently began to move her hands back. He saw Haley look up at him, confusion marring her features. "Gorgeous, if you continue doing that, I won't last long at all." He explained as he continued to push her back until she was resting on her forearms, lying back much further than she had been all night.

Haley had been slightly hurt and embarrassed when she felt Nathan's hand grasp hers and pull it away from his cock. Had he not liked what she had been doing to him? Was that why he wanted her to stop? But then he explained himself and she instantly felt the embarrassment melt away, being replaced with a feeling of contentment at his admission, and she continued to feel him push her body back, which she complied with. Once she was back on her forearms, she felt Nathan's hands trace up her arms until he got to her shoulders, and he then trailed them down her sides, over the swell of her breasts and into the curve of her waist, before he found the zip on the side of her skirt, which he proceeded to lower.

Nathan looked up at Haley, seeing that she was watching him, and he held her gaze as he lowered his head to her stomach, leaving a trail of feather light kisses along her skin as he continued to lower the zipper to her skirt. Once he had it all the way off, he hooked his fingers into both her skirt and her panties, wanting to get them off her body as quickly as was possible. "Lift up." He mumbled into her stomach as he began to pull the skirt and her panties down her hips.

Haley lifted her hips up off the pool table as Nathan had instructed and felt him pull both her skirt and her panties down her body before she heard them land in a heap on the floor. She then kicked her shoes off her feet as she felt Nathan's mouth continue to place kisses on her torso. She could feel her body responding to his ministrations, the need building and building and just as she was about to say something to him, just as she was about to plead with him to give her what she wanted, he mumbled something else into her skin.

"Move up the table Gorgeous." Nathan panted into her skin as he removed his mouth from her body and watched as she shuffled further up the pool table, knocking some of the balls that remained on it around in the process. He then kicked his shoes off his feet and bent down so the he could take off his trousers, boxers and socks, before he heaved himself up onto the table and crawled over to where Haley was currently waiting for him, his eyes never wavering from hers.

Haley watched as Nathan crawled up her body in between her legs, the anticipation building with each moment that passed from deep inside of herself. She was so ready for him, she needed him and as she watched his penetrating gaze never leave her own, she knew that she wouldn't be able to wait much longer at all. "Please Nathan." She whispered, her voice full of need and wanting.

Nathan licked his lips as he heard her words, relieved that she seemed to want this just as much as he did. He closed his eyes briefly, savouring this moment for a second before he opened them again, finding Haley's eyes still gazing up at him. He continued to hold her gaze as he moved his hand down to his cock, gripping it tightly as he lowered his hips to hers, resting his weight on his free arm. He slid his cock up and down her slit, glad to find that she was completely wet and ready, and then just as his cock reached her entrance, he released his grip on it and pushed inside of her, groaning at how good it felt to be there.

Haley closed her eyes as she felt Nathan push inside of her, stretching her as she completely revelled in how it felt to have his cock inside of her again. She then felt Nathan begin to pull out of her, before starting a slow, measured rhythm. She opened her eyes and looked up at him, finding him hovering above her and he looked down into her eyes, holding her gaze as he continued to move in and out of her. She quickly felt her body begin to react, and she lifted up her hands and wrapped them around his neck, pulling his body down on top of hers, wanting to feel him laying on her, wanting to feel his weight on top of her. She moaned as she felt him up the pace, which encouraged him to continue to do so, and she lifted her hips up to meet his with each thrust, the movement causing him to move deeper inside of her.

Nathan could feel his cock moving deeper and deeper inside of her with each thrust of his hips. He was panting and was finding that he was short of breath but he didn't let that stop him, instead he grunted as he upped the pace of his thrusts once more, finding that he was rewarded with Haley gasping in his ear, withering underneath him and tugging harshly on his hair which was locked in her fists. He could feel himself getting so lost in it all, the sensation of being here with her, of being inside of her like he was and it was all building up inside of him, confusing him incredibly. He placed a kiss on the top of her shoulder, before he twisted his head to the side, placing another kiss on the side of her neck. He then moved his mouth up to her ear and continued the fast and frenzied pace of his thrusts. He felt her lift her legs up until they were locked around his ass, which only enhanced the angle of his thrusts, allowing him to go even deeper inside of her. "God Hales." He panted as he continued to move his hips, fighting with himself to keep his orgasm at bay.

Haley released her grip on Nathan's hair and began to move her hands down his scalp towards the base of his neck, where she started to run her fingernails lightly over his skin. She closed her eyes briefly as she felt her orgasm begin to build inside of her, pressing down on Nathan's ass with the heels of her feet each time he pushed his cock back inside of her, the angle of this position allowing each pass of his cock to hit all the right spots inside of her. "Nathan." She moaned as she dug her fingernails into his skin, feeling her orgasm beginning to build even more.

Nathan pressed his mouth back to her neck again, letting his tongue run around in languorous circles, tasting the saltiness of her skin which was covered with a thin sheen of sweat, much like his own. He felt her inner muscles clench around his cock like she didn't want him to pull out of her body, and he basked in that feeling as he continued to move in and out of her, feeling her heels dig into him each time she felt like he had moved far enough out of her body. He could hear Haley moaning and whimpering underneath him, he could hear her moaning his name which caused this surge of pride to run right through his body, he loved hearing her say his name like that.

As much as Haley wanted to continue, she couldn't hold off her orgasm any longer. She sucked in a sharp breath as she felt her body begin to react to Nathan's efforts. "Fuck Nathan." She gasped as she felt her muscles begin to tighten uncontrollably around his cock. She unhooked her ankles from around his body and allowed her legs to fall back to the table as she felt her entire body tense with the force of her orgasm, her breathing fast and uncontrolled as wave after wave of pleasure rippled through her entire body.

Nathan slowed down his thrusts as he felt Haley's orgasm claim her, and he made sure to pull his mouth away from her neck so that he could watch her come, because in all honesty, there was no better feeling for him than watching the pleasure he had caused her to feel consume her entirely. He felt Haley's body shudder beneath him, her muscles clenching onto his cock so tightly that all he could do was bow his head down to her shoulder and succumb to the pleasure that had been building inside of him since the very moment she had wrapped her hand around his cock earlier.

Haley felt Nathan come inside of her, feeling his cock twitch as he stilled his movements completely, hearing him whisper her name against her shoulder and she closed her eyes as she began to come down from her high. She began to move her fingers lightly over the skin of his back, feeling the slickness of his skin underneath her fingertips as she did so. After a short while, she felt Nathan lift his head up from her shoulder and she smiled shyly at him, seeing him smile back at her in return, before he pulled out of her and rolled onto his back beside her and she closed her eyes, willing her body to calm the hell down.

Once Nathan's heart rate had slowed down, he sat up, allowing his eyes to travel up and down Haley's naked body as she continued to lie next to him with her eyes closed. His eyes lingered on her body, appreciating every single one of her gentle curves as he slowly lifted his eyes up to her face, finding her looking at him with a strange look on her face.

Haley could feel her skin burning underneath Nathan's penetrating gaze, the way he was currently looking at her so intently was really not helping her to calm her body down at all and she had to open her eyes. Eventually his eyes moved back up her body and settled on her own. "What are you looking at?" She asked, wondering what he had been finding so fascinating.

Nathan smiled softly at her. "Nothing." He returned, before realising that wasn't true at all. He most certainly hadn't spent the last couple of minutes looking at nothing. He reached over to her and brushed away some of her matted hair from her forehead with his fingers, his eyes travelling up and down her face. "You're so beautiful." He marvelled, speaking so quietly he didn't know if she had heard him, or if he had even meant for her to hear.

Haley didn't know if she had heard him right at all. Had he just said that she was beautiful? She could feel her cheeks beginning to flush and before Nathan had a chance to see how he was affecting her, she sat herself up and jumped off the table, throwing his boxers and trousers at him. "Come on, we should get going, you've got to drop those keys off to Julian first thing in the morning." She said as she searched the floor for her panties and the rest of her clothes, pausing for a second as she picked up her skirt and panties, wondering why she wished that she had heard him right, even though she was so sure she hadn't.

~*~

"You know what else I can't believe Nathan?" Haley asked as she pushed her dessert plate away from her body, feeling absolutely stuffed after the delicious three course meal she had just eaten in her favourite restaurant, courtesy of Nathan. They were bantering with each other and she had just berated him gently over him spending yet another day locked in the study working. She had been careful not to sound too severe as she didn't want to spoil their night out, but she still wanted him to know that she most certainly did not approve of his continued work pattern, it was far too unhealthy for him to keep that up much longer.

Nathan placed the last piece of his chocolate fudge cake into his mouth as he wrapped his tongue around the fork, making sure to get all of the cake off it, before placing his fork back down on the now squeaky clean plate. "What's that gorgeous?" He asked, raising an eyebrow at Haley once he had looked up at her, seeing a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth, and he was unable to not smirk back at her, sure that she was about to tease him some more.

"I can't believe that you have practically licked that plate clean after all that you've eaten here tonight!" Haley returned as she looked pointedly down to his plate before returning her gaze back up to Nathan's, raising her eyebrow at him as if she was asking him to explain himself.

Nathan chuckled back at her as he looked down at his plate, and then over at Haley's which still had half of her crème brulee on it. "Well you know what I can't believe?" He asked as he reached over for her plate and pulled it towards him, moving his empty one out of the way as he did so.

Haley shook her head in disbelief at him as she watched him drag her plate across the table towards him. She folded her arms over her chest and looked up at him again. "What can't you believe Nathan?" She asked in an incredulous voice, surely he wasn't about to eat the rest of her dessert too, she was sure that he would explode if he did, where he found the room to keep all this food inside of him she'd never know.

"That you haven't finished a single plate of your food here tonight." Nathan said as he picked up her spoon and scooped up some crème brulee, leaning towards her with the spoon poised in his hand.

Haley watched the spoon continue to move towards her and she shook her head. "Nathan I can't eat anymore, I'm full!" She responded.

Nathan raised his eyebrow at her, giving her a stern look. "I'm paying gorgeous, you chose the restaurant as per our deal last night, and I want you to finish eating at least one plate of your food." He said and watched as Haley returned his pointed look. He sighed to himself, knowing that the look of determination which was currently on her face would make it incredibly hard for him to win this one, but he was still worrying about her eating habits, he couldn't allow her to go back to how she was before. "Look, I'll help you out a bit." He said as he turned his hand and placed the spoon inside his mouth before he then scooped up some more brulee from her plate, holding it out to her.

Haley sighed as she leaned forward slightly, knowing that he wouldn't let up until she ate at least a little bit more of her food. She opened her mouth and then closed it around the spoon; lifting her gaze up to Nathan's as she did so, seeing that his eyes were concentrated on her mouth. She felt this surge of desire run right though her body, she had no idea where the hell it had come from, but there was something about the way that Nathan was looking at her that caused her skin to tingle, and quite surprisingly, she found herself wishing that they hadn't ticked anything off the list this week already.

Seeing Haley's mouth wrap around the spoon like it was caused Nathan's mind to go into absolute overdrive. He was imagining things he should never be thinking about, fantasising about having her mouth wrapped around his cock, which was wrong on so many levels, yet he couldn't seem to wipe the thought from his mind, which almost disturbed him as much as the thought originally had. He pulled the spoon out of her mouth and dropped his gaze to the plate immediately, dropping the spoon down onto the table before calling the waiter over to clear their plates and ask for the bill, the unfinished crème brulee completely forgotten about.

Within two minutes Nathan had paid for the meal and they were in a cab on the way home. Haley looked over at Nathan, feeling incredibly confused. He had just told her that he wanted her to eat the rest of her dessert and then after having eaten one spoonful himself, giving her another, he had hastily rushed them out of the restaurant and they were now pulling up to their apartment. She waited for Nathan to pay the taxi driver and then she got out of the car the same time he did, following him into the apartment building. They travelled in the elevator in absolute silence, and she followed him down the hallway until they got to the door, where he placed his key in the lock and opened it, allowing her to walk inside first.

Nathan instantly felt better once they were inside the apartment, back in familiar surroundings. He pushed the door with his hand, hearing it click and then smiled at Haley, who was looking at him strangely. "What?" He asked as he took his shoes off.

"Are you okay?" Haley asked, wondering what the hell the rush had been to get them out of the restaurant was about.

"Fine, why?" Nathan asked as he walked past her walked towards the living room.

Haley frowned as she contemplated his drastic change in demeanour, before deciding that he was back to normal now, which was all that really mattered. She took her own shoes off and yawned, suddenly feeling quite tired. "Nothing." She returned. "I think I'm going to go to bed."

"Okay gorgeous, I'll see you in the morning." Nathan called from the lounge as he put the television on and turned his X Box on, sinking his body onto the couch as he geared himself up for a couple of hours of game time before he too retired to his bed.

"Night." Haley retuned as she heard the car racing game switch on, and she rolled her eyes as she walked along the hallway towards her bedroom.

Two hours later, Haley continued to toss and turn in her bed. She sighed as she flipped her body over, trying to get herself comfortable but she kept on failing miserably. Her mind was filled with utterly ridiculous thoughts; she was unable to erase the way that Nathan had been looking at her when she had been eating the crème brulee off the spoon. She was getting more and more frustrated with herself, mentally berating her mind for thinking such stupid things. She angrily threw the covers off her body and practically ripped her shorts and tank top off her body, leaving her in nothing but her panties, given that her whole body felt far too hot. She then tried her best to lay still and think of nothing, giving both her body and her mind a much needed minute to cool down.

Two minutes later, she heard Nathan turn the TV off and heard his footsteps walk down the hallway, past her room and into his own. She heard him close the door quietly, presumably thinking that she would be asleep and so wouldn't want to wake her, but that was so far from the truth. She strained her ears, trying to hear for more movements from his room but she was met with nothing but silence. She couldn't help but wonder if sleep would come easily to him, or whether he too would have been affected in some way by what had been happening between them lately. She frowned into the darkness as she once again recalled the way he had been looking at her in the restaurant, trying to decipher what that look meant, but found that she couldn't come up with a plausible answer.

Eventually, her thoughts then drifted once again to their arrangement, and she suddenly felt this emptiness inside of her. She didn't know why, but knowing that this was truly a Saturday night, and knowing that both she and Nathan were going to both go to sleep without having ticked something off either list, despite knowing that they had done so earlier this morning, filled her with a mixture of sadness and yearning, and once again, she wondered if Nathan felt the same. She bit down on her lip as her mind raced, and before she had a chance to tell herself not to, she sat up in bed and threw her legs onto the floor, and began to creep out of her room towards Nathan's bedroom.

Nathan sighed to himself as he lay on top of his covers, his head barely on the pillows. His eyes were closed but he knew that sleep wouldn't be coming to him any time soon, not when all he could think about was what had transpired at the restaurant. He didn't understand why he had been thinking about those kinds of things in such a normal situation. He understood thinking about them in a way when they were in the middle of ticking something off the lists, but in a restaurant full of people? It just didn't make any sense whatsoever. Coming back home, he instantly felt relieved as he walked through the door, the tension had eased somewhat, it was still there in a way but was nowhere near as strong as it had been in that restaurant. He decided to distract himself with his racing game, and it had worked, but he now found that as he lay in the dark alone, he had nothing to distract himself with, and the inappropriate thoughts returned to him in full force.

He had just been imagining taking Haley in what had to be an absolutely impossible position when he heard his door creak open. He turned his head to the side, watching as the door pushed open, before he saw Haley squeeze through the gap and then close the door behind her. "Hales? Is everything okay?" He asked.

Haley almost breathed a sigh of relief when she heard that his voice carried no grogginess or sleepiness, and she could just about make out his body lying above the covers, which meant that sleep hadn't come to him either. "I just can't sleep." Haley returned in a small voice, whispering almost because it was dark and that seemed like the right volume to speak at.

"Why?" Nathan asked as he frowned at her in the darkness, hadn't she gone to bed over two hours ago now?

_Ah, the million dollar question. _Haley thought to herself. "I don't know." She eventually replied as she threaded her fingers together and began to play with them nervously. She felt like she didn't know a lot of things at the moment, she didn't know why she couldn't sleep, nor did she know quite why she was in Nathan's bedroom at whatever time of the night it was. Yet in all of this haziness and confusion, the loudest thought in her head was the need to feel him, to do something with him, to tick something else off that damn list. She breathed in deeply as she battled with herself; should she give into her desires, or should she just walk right back to her own bed, dismissing these thoughts she currently had as nothing more than her feeling tired?

Nathan could practically feel the confusion coming from her, which first and foremost filled him with worry for her. Why couldn't she sleep? Why was she in his bedroom? Why wasn't she saying anything anymore? But then he watched in even more confusion as she began to walk towards him, which wasn't what he had expected to happen at all. He felt her sit down on the bed beside where he was lying and he reached out to her with his hand, running his fingertips up and down her arm lightly, waiting for her to tell him what was going on, the worry for her growing with each silent second that passed.

Haley knew that Nathan was waiting for her to say something, but she couldn't find the words, because she didn't really understand what was going on so that she could explain it to him. She bit down on her lip as she felt Nathan's hand run up and down her arm, which did nothing to quell the desire she felt building inside of her. Her thoughts once again shifted to that list of hers, her mind imagining them both doing what was written on it before she came to one particular item and she focussed on it some more, and that burning feeling she felt from where Nathan's hand was currently running up and down her arm spread through her entire body like a wildfire she was unable to control.

Nathan hated this silence. "Gorgeous, please tell me…" He started and then frowned as he watched Haley shift herself, hoisting on of her legs over his body so that she was straddling his chest with her back facing him. He was so confused he didn't know what the hell was going on at the moment. "Hales what are you…" But before he could get anymore words out, he felt her shift a bit more until her mouth landed on his stomach and he shut the hell up, the confusion so fierce it rendered him completely speechless.

Haley had no idea where the sudden urge and forwardness had come from, and despite being as bold as she was being, she was still nervous as hell as she continued to place light kisses all over Nathan's stomach. She was willing him to understand what she wanted to do, but more so than that, she was willing him not to question why she was doing it, because that was the very thing that she couldn't seem to explain. She moved her mouth down his stomach towards the waistband of his boxers as both her hands trailed up and down his thigh, fully aware of the fact that he was lying incredibly rigidly underneath her.

Nathan didn't understand what she was doing in the slightest. Why was she kissing his stomach, why were her hands running up his thigh and why the hell was she straddling his chest? He couldn't move as he searched his brain for the real motivation behind her actions, but he couldn't come up with an answer. "Er Hales?" He asked, the confusion lacing each word that came out of his mouth.

"Hmmmm?" Haley mumbled against his skin as she continued to move her mouth over his stomach, wincing slightly at what she knew he was going to ask her.

"What the hell are you doing?" He asked, wanting her to explain why she was currently kissing his stomach. He was incredibly puzzled, and his body didn't seem to be helping matters either. As he felt her hands move further up his thigh his cock responded in the only way it knew how, which was to get ridiculously hard. He had to bite back the groan that threatened to escape from his mouth as he felt Haley's hand brush lightly over his cock, causing it to harden even more.

Haley closed her eyes, pleased that although his voice was sounding confused, his body certainly wasn't, it was responding in exactly the way she wanted it to. She took some confidence from the fact that he had a hard on. "It's Saturday." She responded casually, as if he was stupid for even questioning her, which of course he wasn't, he had every right to question what she was doing, she was even questioning what the hell she was doing.

"I know that Hales." Nathan responded through gritted teeth as he tried desperately to stop his body reacting to her as it would only mean that he would have to take matters into his own hands once she left his room.

"Good." Haley responded as she moved one of her hands back to his cock, trailing her fingers lightly over it through his boxers.

So Nathan had by now realised what he thought she wanted to do, which was to continue with their arrangement, but hadn't they already had their turn with it this week? Why was she suddenly breaking these rules she had insisted so severely upon? But was she even breaking the rules? He tried to recall the rules he had agreed to, but Haley was making it incredibly hard for him to do so with one of her hands continuing to run lightly up and down his cock as the other gripped onto the waistband of his boxers and began to tug on them like she wanted to take them off his body. He closed his eyes and tried to block everything out of his head as he tried desperately to remember those damn rules. No kissing on the lips. Dating allowed. No changing of feelings. Tick things off the list on Saturday. He was still confused as hell. Did that mean one thing or multiple things? Wasn't the fact that they would do one thing implied in those rules?

Haley began tugging more forcefully on his boxers, wanting to get them off his body. She could feel how hard he was through his boxers and knew that he must be dying for some sort of friction at least, so why wasn't he complying with what she wanted?

Did it really fucking matter what the rules said when she was willing to do something else, when she was practically trying to rip his boxers off him? Nathan really didn't know why he was trying to be so moral, but he was battling with his head and his body. He could feel his hips twitching to be allowed to lift off the bed so that Haley could take his boxers off his body, but he was so confused about it all, even so, he could tell that he head was starting to lose the battle and as soon as that thought drifted through his mind, the war was lost completely. He lifted his hips up off the bed and felt Haley lean down over his body as she pulled them off his legs before throwing them on the floor.

As soon as Haley had Nathan's boxers off his body, she ran her hands back up his strong legs until she got to his thighs, where she then lifted herself up slightly, balancing her weight on his legs as she then griped onto his cock with her hand, repeating her actions of this morning, running her hand up and down the shaft slowly, before running the pad of her thumb around the tip, hearing Nathan gasp from behind her. She could still see his hands on the bed next to his body, his fists now clenched and twisted into the sheets and she realised that he still didn't understand her intention.

Nathan was just about to ask her what she was doing once again, but before he could get the words out, he watched in confusion as she lowered her head to his body; her hand stilled its movements and slowly began to move down to the base of his cock. He opened his mouth in preparation to talk to her but was unable to get any further as he felt her tongue land on his cock right by her hand, and then run up the length of his shaft. "Jesus fuck Hales!" He said in complete surprise at her actions. Was she trying to give him a heart attack? He breathed in deeply as he tried to calm the pace of his now rapidly beating heart, but any effort he had put into that was rendered completely wasted as he felt her mouth wrap around his entire cock and begin to suck on it. He tried desperately to recall what she was doing because although it should be, receiving a blow job was not on his list, and he was certain that giving head wasn't on her list either, so there had to be something he was missing, but thinking was proving to be rather difficult for him at the moment.

Haley continued to suck on his cock, moving her mouth up and down his shaft as she started to create a steady rhythm, using her hand to pump the bottom part of his cock that she couldn't get into her mouth. She then breathed a sigh of relief when she felt Nathan's hands move to her hips and hook into the elastic of her panties, pleased that he had seemed to catch on with where she was going with this. She felt him tug the panties down her legs and she lifted one of her legs up off the bed and then the other, all the while continuing to suck his cock in her mouth, allowing him to take her panties off her body completely. She felt his hands then trail up her legs until they settled on her hips, pulling her body closer to his head and she yelped in surprise at the action.

God almighty, Haley was a fucking master at giving head. He could already feel his body beginning to respond to her efforts but he tried desperately to keep those feelings at bay and proceeded to concentrate all his effort on Haley. It had finally clicked, he had realised that she had '69' written on her list, and that was obviously what she wanted to tick off it tonight, even though he was sure that they shouldn't be ticking off anything. But he immediately pushed those thoughts out of his mind because he was receiving the blow job from heaven and he knew he had no hope in hell of stopping Haley now she had started, he was sure his body would completely disown him if he so much as tried. He moved his hands from her waist over her ass and down to her inner thigh, before he slipped them both down to her folds, using his fingers to pull them aside, giving him the access he desired. He then lifted his head up off the bed slightly and used his tongue to lick his way from her entrance up to her clit, swirling his tongue around it slowly before pressing over the top of it, causing this brilliant moan to escape from Haley's mouth which vibrated against his cock, which she was still continuing to suck on as if her life depended on it, and he was certainly going to do his best to return the favour.

Haley tried to focus all her attention on his cock but she was finding it incredibly difficult to do so when he was working her with his tongue like he was. She should have known that he would be amazing at this too, he was amazing at everything else, but nothing could have prepared her for just how good his tongue felt on her clit. She ran her tongue up the length of his cock before she swirled her tongue right around the tip a few times, before lowering her mouth back down his length. She then used her teeth to graze up his length as she pulled her mouth up his cock, which caused this delicious groan to escape from his mouth, rippling over her clit, causing her to shudder in pleasure at the sensation.

God if Haley did that thing with her teeth raking up his cock one more time he was sure he was going to come then and there. Nathan could already feel his heart rate increasing to ridiculous levels, the sensation of having Haley's mouth wrapped around his cock together with tasting her himself at the very same time was almost too much for his mind to take. He opened his mouth slightly and sucked her clit into his mouth, which once again caused Haley to moan against his cock, and those amazing vibrations didn't help his attempts to remain calm and allow this to go on for as long as he could drag it out in the slightest, because this felt far too good for it to end prematurely. He then moved his tongue back down into her folds, spreading them once again as he moved his tongue inside her, tasting her properly for the first time, and just as he had suspected, she tasted like fucking heaven.

Haley didn't know how much longer she was going to be able to hold off her orgasm. She felt Nathan move his mouth back towards her clit again, his tongue running in purposeful circles around it before he licked his way right over it. "Fuck Nathan." She mumbled almost incoherently around his cock as she continued to move her mouth over it, sure to use her teeth when she pulled her mouth up because he seemed to like that. She then ran her tongue around the tip several times, feeling his cock begin to twitch slightly.

As much as Nathan wanted to hold it off, he could feel his orgasm building and he was completely powerless to stop it. "Shit." He murmured against her clit before he pulled his mouth away from her slightly. "Gorgeous, I don't think I can…" He started in a strained voice as he pulled on her hips in warning, telling her that he was going to come very soon, allowing her the chance to get off him. Only instead of moving off him, she began to suck even more vehemently on his cock, which confused him for a second, before he realised that she wanted him to come in her mouth. "Holy fuck." He panted, before he realised that he was neglecting Haley completely and then proceeded to continue his ministrations, alternating between sucking her clit into his mouth and running his tongue over it repeatedly, building up a fast and ferocious rhythm which he hoped would get her to the same place he was at quickly.

Haley couldn't hold back any longer what with the new pace Nathan had set and the combined feeling of his tongue on her clit, which felt so fucking good, and she felt her orgasm begin to claim her entire being. She could feel her toes beginning to curl into the sheets of his bed as her heart rate sped up to what had to be record levels. She felt the tremors begin to pulsate through her body, causing her to shudder and moan incoherently around his cock, which seemed to spark off Nathan's orgasm, as he started to come in her mouth, groaning against her clit which caused even more waves of pleasure to wash over her, and she swallowed his come quickly as she felt his body begin to relax underneath her.

There didn't seem to be a need for words once Haley had released Nathan's cock from her mouth after having sucked on it one last time to make sure she had got all his come. She licked her lips as she lifted herself up off his body, flopping down on the bed beside him, too tired to move after her powerful orgasm, even though she knew that she should get back to her own bed. Sleeping in the same bed as each other was not in the rules, but it wouldn't hurt to stay here for a few minutes, she reasoned with herself.

Nathan closed his eyes as he waited for sleep to claim him, completely exhausted but feeling incredibly satisfied as he felt Haley lying in the bed next to him. He turned his body over onto his side so that he was lying facing her and he placed his hand over her stomach as he pulled himself closer to her, breathing in her scent as he relaxed completely, sure that sleep would come much more easily to him given that she was now lying next to him. He was slightly surprised that she hadn't gone back to her room once they had finished, but he was more than happy for her to stay in his bed with him, somehow it just felt right, having his arms wrapped around her as they both rested. In fact, he was sure that he hadn't felt this calm in a long time, what with stresses at work usually milling around in his mind, making it incredibly hard for him to relax and prepare his mind for sleep. But with Haley here with him, all thoughts and stresses seemed to evaporate completely from his head, to be replaced with a stillness, a calmness that he couldn't seem to find on his own. He could feel himself drifting off to sleep, his body relaxing completely, his breathing becoming more steady, and just as sleep was about to claim him, he felt Haley shift slightly, wiggling out of his grasp. He remained as still as he could, careful to keep his breathing even and steady as she shuffled away from him and as soon as he heard the door to his room close behind her, he opened his eyes, sighing to himself as he stared into the darkness at the emptiness that now lay beside him.

**AN – Alright, phew that was a long one! So was that rule breaking or not?! And once again, I hope you guys can see that things are slowly changing for them both perhaps a little more in this chapter…**

**Please do let me know what you thought of the chapter by leaving a review.**

**As always, a preview of the next chapter will be available as soon as I've written it to those of you that want it, just let me know in a review if you do.**

**And teaser pics for chapter seven will be up on the blog soon – I'm glad you guys seem to be liking them :o)**


	7. Chapter 7

**AN – Okay guys… apologies for the delay but I've had a crazy couple of weeks, what with work and lots of other exciting stuff going on! Wedding planning has been taking precedence after my sister totally freaked out on me that I've not done enough planning – and I think I found my wedding dress yesterday which should placate her somewhat – I hope!**

**But I'm back with another chapter right now and I want to thank all of you who reviewed the previous chapter – you all make me smile so much!**

**As always a few words to those of you without accounts, so I couldn't respond personally, **Nicole – **Aw I'm so pleased this is your favourite story, and I hope you continue to enjoy it and that you like this chapter. **Leah – **Glad you enjoyed the last chapter and as for breaking the rules, well there may be some more of that coming up in the following chapters! I'm glad you can see the changes between them too! Hope you enjoy this update! **Danneell14 – **I'm so pleased you're enjoying the story and I hope you like this chapter too! **Eline – **I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter and sorry for the wait on this one, I hope you enjoy! **Kristina – **So pleased you liked the chapter and as for that kiss… well… I'm going to keep quiet. Hope you like this chapter! **BlueJean452 – **I'm glad you enjoyed seeing a bit of Nathan's list and that the rules are being bent a little! Hope you enjoy this chapter! **Ann – **So pleased you continue to enjoy this story and I hope you like the update! **Rachael – **I'm so pleased you're enjoying the story, as for more rule breaking, well... we'll see! Sorry for taking so long to update but I hope you enjoy this chapter! **T – **Sorry for the wait – hope you enjoy the update!**

**Many thanks go to Kristen, Rebecca and Elle who are all amazing and read through this for me before I posted! **

**Right, one other thing before I shut up. The lovely Anissa made me an amazing video for this story, so please head over to my blog after and watch it (you may have to scroll down a little once you get there), and leave her some love for it too cos its really, really good!**

**Okay, on with the chapter! That was a long AN – sorry about that! Enjoy! **

**Chapter Seven**

"Hello?" Haley gasped once she had picked up the ringing phone, her voice questioning in its tone as she didn't recognise the number that was displayed on the screen. She was in the middle of changing for her almost daily run with Ryan, and she had just tripped over her own two feet as she raced to answer her phone which was on her bed. Tripping up had caused her to land with a loud thud on the floor as her shorts were currently only halfway up her legs. She was trying to be as discreet as possible because Nathan was currently working in the study and her plan had been to just shout out to him that she was going shopping and then run out the door before he had a chance to spot what she was wearing, so she was currently swearing under her breath at the noise she had just created, praying that Nathan hadn't heard it because then that would mean there was an even higher chance of him catching her in her gym clothes and questioning what she was doing in them. No, she still hadn't told him about the gym.

"Haley? Is that you?"

"Yes, this is Haley… who is this?" Haley asked breathlessly as she puffed her hair out of her face and sat up straight, leaning her back against her bed while she wondered who the hell was calling her as she couldn't tell who the voice on the other end of the line belonged to.

"Can't you guess?" The voice asked.

Haley strained her ears as she tried to place the voice, mentally running through her list of contacts and friends as she attempted to recall who could have her number but she wouldn't have theirs, however, she couldn't come up with a name. She was sure she hadn't handed out her number to anyone recently, and the voice on the end of the phone didn't sound like someone she had as a contact in her phone who had potentially changed their number either. "I'm sorry; I haven't got a clue who this could be." She responded, hoping that this game wouldn't go on for longer than was necessary, and that whoever was on the other end of the line would just reveal their identity to her.

"Gorgeous?" Nathan called out as he tapped lightly on Haley's closed door. "Is everything okay, I heard a banging noise?" He asked as he placed his hand on her doorknob and twisted it, wanting to make sure that she was okay and that she hadn't hurt herself or something. He had been busily working away in the study and had heard an almighty noise, which could only be Haley tripping up over something, or most likely herself, so he had left the design he was working on and had come bounding down the hallway to her room to check that she was alright.

"Shit!" Haley muttered under her breath as she grabbed her duvet from behind where she was leaning against her bed and quickly tried to throw it over her body, but she was getting tangled in the covers and so she started to panic. "Nathan, don't come in here!" She shouted out to him, just as she saw the door begin to open.

Nathan frowned as he pulled the door back so it was shut and released his grip on the doorknob. "Why not? Hales, is everything okay?" He asked through the wooden door, wondering what had got her so panicked, she wasn't hurt was she?

"I'm fine." Haley yelled back to him as she stood up from the floor, fumbling with the duvet before running to the door and grabbing her dressing robe which was hanging from a hook on it, then threw it over her body. "I'm just not wearing any clothes." She stuttered as she tied the robe around herself, wanting to conceal her gym clothes from a potential viewing session by Nathan as quickly as was possible.

"Really?"

Haley heard the anonymous voice speak to her from down the phone in a perky sort of tone, like he had been tuning her other conversation out but was suddenly all ears and she winced due to the fact that she had forgotten she had been on a call. She rolled her eyes to herself; all it took was the thought of a potentially naked woman to get any man's attention, how very original.

Nathan couldn't help but chuckle at her from behind the door. "Gorgeous, I already told you that I've…" He started but then found that he was interrupted by some more of Haley's panicked yelling.

"I'm actually on the phone right now, Nathan." Haley shouted back at him in warning, interrupting him at just the right time. She still wasn't sure who was on the phone but she didn't want anyone to know about her arrangement with Nathan, and she just knew that whatever was going to come out of his mouth would potentially lead whoever was on the phone to take an educated guess at what had been going on between them both, and she wasn't about to take that risk.

"Oh!" Nathan responded, feeling rather sheepish and hoping that he hadn't said anything too revealing. He quickly did a double check, breathing a sigh of relief once he had reiterated the words he had just spoken, realising that he hadn't revealed too much, if anything at all. He then stared at the door for a few seconds, before coming to the conclusion that Haley was fine and if she was on the phone then he'd better leave her be, if she was chatting to Brooke or Peyton they could be on the damn thing for hours. "Okay, well I'm going to get back to work."

"Okay, Nathan." Haley returned, feeling incredibly pleased that he hadn't come into her room and found her decked out in her fitness clothes, she still didn't know what his reaction was going to be to her joining a gym, and he was still being a bit weird about her eating habits. She listened to his fading footsteps and then lay down on her bed, breathing a sigh of relief to herself. She then realised that she still had her phone attached to her ear. "Hello, are you still there?" She asked, wondering if whoever was calling her was in fact still there or whether they had hung up on her, given that she had been ignoring them for the past couple of minutes.

"Hi, Haley. I'm still here."

"Okay, so who is this?" Haley asked as she sat herself up on the bed and took her dressing gown off her body given that she didn't have a reason to hide what she was wearing anymore.

"You really don't know who I am?"

"I really don't know who you are." Haley responded as she rolled her eyes. She lay back down on her bed and lifted her hips up in the air as she pulled her shorts up her legs and then sat back up again, walking over to her chest of drawers so she could find a pair of training socks.

"It's Ryan! I can't believe you didn't recognise my voice." Ryan said.

"Ryan?" Haley asked in a confused tone. "You sound really different on the phone. How the hell did you get my number?"

"Oh, well don't get mad but I kind of took it from your application form." Ryan winced, hoping that she wouldn't be angry with him.

"Really?" Haley asked, surprised that he had gone to the effort of getting her application form out of the filing cabinet and hadn't just asked her for her number. She leaned down and placed her socks on her feet and then laughed at how scared Ryan sounded. "I'm not angry; I guess it makes sense for us to exchange numbers if we're going to be training with each other all the time."

"Speaking of training, I'm right outside, what number apartment are you, I'll come up and get you if you want?" Ryan said as he walked up to the panel beside the front door.

"No!" Haley shrieked in a panicked voice as she stood up and ran over to her window, spotting Ryan down on the front steps.

Ryan held the phone away from his ear as Haley yelled down the phone at him. "Jesus Haley, are you trying to deafen me or something?"

Haley bit down on her lip and quickly grabbed her running shoes from her closet. "Sorry, I'll be down in literally one minute so there's no need for you to come up and get me, I'm just putting my shoes on." She rambled as she tried to get her shoes on her feet as quickly as was possible. The last thing she wanted was Ryan showing up at the front door, Nathan would be absolutely furious and curious and... Well, it was simply a situation she didn't want to find herself in at all.

"Okay. You ready for an hour's solid run today then?" Ryan asked. He found it a bit weird that she was so adamant that he didn't know what number she lived at but he guessed it was her prerogative to tell him or not.

"Er, no." Haley responded with a raised eyebrow as she tied her laces. "I thought we were going to do forty five minutes today?"

"We were, but I think you can handle an hour." Ryan said with a smile. "Are you done putting your shoes on?"

"Yep, I'll be out there in a second." Haley said as she jumped upright and grabbed her bottle of water from her desk.

"Good. Now about the whole being naked thing…" Ryan started.

"Bye Ryan!" Haley interrupted with a roll of her eyes and a giggle as she disconnected the call and placed her phone in the pocket of her shorts. She then snuck down the corridor towards the front door, pleased to hear that Nathan was in the kitchen. "Nathan I'm going shopping with the girls, I'll be back later." She yelled and then opened up the front door.

"Okay gorgeous what time will you be home?" Nathan yelled back as he walked over to the door of the kitchen and looked down the hallway, hearing the front door slam shut before she'd even had the chance to answer him.

~*~

Haley was keeping up with Ryan rather well, but she was extremely aware of the fact that they hadn't been running around Central Park for longer than about fifteen minutes so far. She could feel how much easier it was to run these kind of distances now though which gave her a really incredible feeling of satisfaction, she felt like all these hours she had spent training so far were actually paying off, she could literally feel the results. She wouldn't get totally out of breath now until they had run way past thirty minutes, but it was in that stretch from thirty-five to forty-five minutes or so, where even breathing was excruciatingly painful. She dreaded to think what she was going to be like after having run for an hour. She'd probably be crawling on the floor for the last fifteen minutes of their run.

"You good Haley?" Ryan asked as he jogged beside her, glancing over at her to check that she was okay. The sun was shining and it was a beautiful spring day in New York, and in true New Yorker fashion, the pathways were getting extremely busy with families, groups of friends and dog walkers, but despite all the meandering he had to do, Ryan felt incredibly comfortable, and he wanted to make sure that Haley was too. He was aware of how hard she had to work for the last ten minutes of their usual forty-five minute run but he honestly thought that she was ready to tackle the hour mark, and he couldn't wait to see the smile which he knew would be plastered on her face once she had achieved it.

Haley nodded her head as she unscrewed the cap of her water bottle and took a swig of it, making sure that she continued running. She had learnt early on that stopping and starting used up far too much of her energy and it was also more painful that just running seemed to be. She puffed out her cheeks and then swallowed the large amount of water she had placed in her mouth and then screwed the lid back on her bottle. She then smiled over at Ryan, who sneakily, she noticed, had just increased the pace slightly, but instead of complaining she just increased her own, determined to keep up with him, even though she knew that she'd be paying for it later.

Ryan grinned to himself as he sensed Haley hesitate for a second, before she ran that little bit faster to catch him up as he increased the pace of their jog. He waited for another minute for her to get used to the change of pace, before he asked the question which had been milling around in his mind ever since he'd been on the phone with her that morning. He was a man after all. "So you were naked earlier when I called?" He asked as he checked that no one was in front of him and then glanced over at Haley, waiting for her to answer him.

Haley couldn't help but roll her eyes at him and she threw her gaze over at him, finding that he was waiting expectantly for an answer. "Ryan, honestly, do you have to be such a stereotypical man?" She panted as they continued to run forwards.

"What do you mean 'stereotypical man'?" Ryan asked as if he was offended by what she was calling him. "I can assure you Haley; I am nothing like a 'stereotypical man'."

"Oh really?" Haley asked disbelievingly. "So why is it that the minute a girl mentions the fact that she's naked your mind instantly goes to the gutter?"

"My mind didn't instantly go to the gutter!" Ryan protested.

"Sure it didn't." Haley responded sarcastically. "I heard your response to that piece of information when we were on the phone, Ryan, you sounded like a teenager." She teased.

"So you were naked?" Ryan asked, wanting to steer the conversation back to the very important topic at hand.

"And that, Ryan," Haley said pointedly, "is exactly why you're a stereotypical man."

"Why?" Ryan asked as he chuckled at Haley's determination to not answer the question.

"Because you keep steering the conversation back to the naked girl." Haley responded, needing to take another swig of her water.

"Well you're a stereotypical woman then." Ryan returned with a raised eyebrow.

Haley glanced over at him with narrowed eyes as she screwed the lid to her bottle back on. "And how did you reach that conclusion?" She asked wondering how he had come to that reasoning.

"I asked you a simple question, and instead of answering it, you try to divert my attention with another question of your own, or rather, a statement which you hope is going to rile me up enough to make me forget about the question I originally asked in the first place. And I can assure you Haley; I'm not going to forget, so you might as well just answer it." Ryan responded, pleased with the look Haley was currently giving him, which was sort of bordering on annoyed, but she knew that he was only teasing her. She had that fire in her eyes though, which he was rather enjoying fuelling.

"No I will not answer it, Ryan!" Haley returned incredulously. "God, you men are just all the same. You're exactly like Nathan, you know?"

Ryan chuckled to himself and then continued to run with Haley in silence for about five seconds. "So were you naked or not?" He asked.

Haley shook her head and pushed Ryan's arm so that he stumbled slightly and she continued to run ahead. "You are a nightmare, Ryan." She said teasingly.

Ryan was rather shocked that Haley had pushed him, he certainly wasn't expecting that. He sped up a little so that he could catch her up. "That wasn't very nice, Haley."

Haley shook her head at him as she continued to run. He really was such a typical man, so much like Nathan with his constant questions, banter and teasing.

"Well I totally think you were, otherwise why the hell would you have been so worried about Nathan coming in your room?" Ryan stated as he upped the pace just a fraction more again, which Haley responded to.

Haley didn't bother saying anything for a few seconds. Being naked in front of Nathan probably wouldn't matter to her anymore, like he had said the last time he was about to enter her room while she had been changing, he'd seen it all before anyway. But still, she'd probably feel a little bit weird if he just walked in on her showering or when she was changing out of her clothes, wouldn't she? She pondered this for a while before she realised that Ryan was still waiting for an answer from her. She turned her head slightly and looked at him, seeing that he was deep in thought. "I wasn't naked, Ryan, so you can stop with the dirty thoughts or whatever you're currently thinking about." She teased.

Ryan dropped his mouth open in shock. "I was not thinking dirty thoughts, Haley!" He said incredulously, despite the fact that he totally was.

"You so were." Haley said with a giggle before she upped the pace of her own accord and smiled over at Ryan as he raced after her and then fell into his stride beside her.

Twenty minutes later, Haley was struggling. They had just passed the forty-five minute mark and her body was literally screaming at her to stop. Her legs felt tired and she was scared that they were going to fall off at any second, her chest was constricting painfully, the stitch she had refusing to go away, instead getting stronger and stronger until it was completely unbearable and her breathing was incredibly laboured. She desperately wanted to run the full hour, she hadn't given up yet in any of her and Ryan's training sessions and she most certainly didn't want to start now. She was fighting with her body, pleading with herself to keep going for ten more minutes but she could feel herself beginning to lose the battle. She was getting angry with herself at the fact that she wasn't winning, she could feel the tears begin to form in her eyes as the realisation that she was going to have to stop hit her. She slowed down, hating herself for giving up but she literally couldn't go on for a second longer.

Ryan glanced over his shoulder and could see that Haley had stopped running completely. She was crouched down on the floor, resting on the balls of her feet with one hand steadying herself which was placed in front of her. He stopped running, feeling incredibly disappointed for her because he knew how much she had wanted to do this, he saw the determination in her eyes and in fact, he himself had wanted her to get to that hour mark so much. He walked back over to her, expecting her to lift her head and acknowledge him, but instead she kept her head bent down as she stared at the floor. He bent down in front of her and watched as she wiped her eyes and he grew confused for a second. "Haley, are you crying?" He asked softly.

Haley felt so stupid. She was crying because she couldn't run any more, but more than that, she was crying because she'd given up, and it was the one thing she really didn't want to do. She sniffed as she kept her blurry gaze focused on the ground in front of her, not wanting Ryan to see her cry. She then heard him sigh and sit down, right in the middle of the path next to her.

Ryan didn't know what the hell to do. Crying girls were most certainly not his speciality, usually he ran away screaming from them himself, but he didn't want to do that with Haley, he wanted to comfort her, he wanted to be there for her. He screwed his face up as he wondered what he should do, what he should say. "What's wrong Haley?" He asked as the concern for her continued to build. "Are you hurt?" He asked in a panicked voice, desperately hoping that wasn't the case.

Haley wiped at her eyes again, completely embarrassed that Ryan had to see her like this. She didn't know why she had become so emotional about stopping, and she was still incredibly frustrated and angry at herself over the fact that she couldn't continue for ten more measly minutes. "No, I'm not hurt." She said. "Well my pride is but that's all."

Ryan chuckled at her attempt at a joke, pleased that even thought she was upset she was still able to crack a joke. He wrapped his arm around his shoulder and pulled her into him. "I don't know. What are we going to do with you?" He sighed.

Haley was rather surprised at the fact that Ryan was comforting her. She felt like he was invading her personal space a little, but before she completely over thought the gesture, she leaned against him, feeling more at ease than she had been previously. She wiped at her eyes and sighed to herself. "I'm so mad at myself that I didn't finish the whole hour."

"Haley, you have nothing to be ashamed of, it's my fault anyway, I pushed you far too hard. We were running at a much faster pace than we have been running at previously…" Ryan started but found that he was interrupted by Haley.

"Yeah but Ryan, I should be able to keep up, we've been training for a couple of weeks now and I should be able to up the pace a little by now." Haley interrupted, the anger she felt at herself continuing to bubble away inside of her.

"But Haley, training is all about upping the pace and the timing in small doses, it was too much for me to expect that you could run for fifteen more minutes than you were used to at a much faster pace. I'm sorry." Ryan said as he stared ahead, feeling really pissed off at himself that he'd let her down. He was surprised at how responsible he felt for her in that moment, how fiercely he felt the need to protect her and tell her that despite not reaching their goal for the day; she'd still done an amazing job.

"Ryan, you have nothing to be sorry for." Haley sniffed as she wiped away her tears. She felt like such a failure. "I want you to push me; I want to be able to do this."

"And you will Haley, but you have to take it easy." Ryan said as he pulled her away from him and looked her right in the eyes. He noticed that people were beginning to get rather irritated that they were blocking most of the path and he rolled his eyes at the man who just muttered something rude under his breath. "What is it they say..? Rome wasn't built in a day... and Haley, you're putting your body through a completely new experience, it isn't just going to come to you like that, and sometimes things are going to get difficult. But I need you to tell me when it's hurting you so that we can slow things down a little. This isn't a competition Haley, this is about you achieving something and I need you to be honest with me when you're struggling. Okay?"

Haley bit down on her bottom lip, still feeling rather livid with herself but then she looked back at Ryan and nodded her head. He was right, despite her pride; she needed to tell him when she was finding training difficult. She rolled her eyes at herself as more tears fell down her face and she quickly wiped them away. She really wanted to do this and training had been going so well, so she was really disappointed with herself for this set back.

Ryan could tell that they were really starting to frustrate the people who were trying to use the path, so he jumped up onto his feet and held out his hand so that he could help Haley stand up too. She took his hand and he pulled her up right before he let go of her hand, despite not wanting to. "Okay, so we have a deal right?" He asked as they walked slowly towards the exit of the park.

Haley nodded her head as she drunk the last of her water and threw her bottle in one of the trash cans.

"Good." Ryan said as he smiled at her. "So where are you going now? Home or the gym?"

"The gym." Haley responded, still feeling a little pissed off at herself for not being able to run for the hour despite Ryan's soothing talk. She kept a change of clothes in one of the lockers there so that she wouldn't have to come home and risk Nathan spotting her in her work out clothes, however, she hadn't told Ryan that Nathan didn't know about the fact that she had joined a gym, nor that she was currently training for a marathon, so she felt like she needed to give him a reason. "I need to pick up a few bits on the way home." She said, which was true, there was no food at all in the fridge at home and so she needed to pick up a few supplies for dinner tonight at least.

"Okay then, the gym it is." Ryan said as he turned left out of the park.

"You don't have to walk me there, Ryan." Haley said, not wanting to take him out of his way at all.

"I know I don't, but I want to." Ryan returned as he smiled over at Haley.

Haley smiled back at him and fell into a comfortable walk with him. They walked in silence while she pondered the day's events so far. She knew that she was going to mull over not achieving that stupid goal today for a while and part of her wanted to be left alone to do just that. But he had been really sweet with her today, so she was grateful that he had been there for her. "Thanks Ryan." She said, hoping he would understand that she wasn't just saying thank you for walking her back to the gym.

Ryan glanced back at her for a brief second. "You're welcome Haley."

~*~

Nathan was absolutely stuffed. He pushed his plate away from himself because if he even looked at his plate for a second longer then he was sure he was going to be sick. He glanced over at Haley and could see her playing with some of the spaghetti which was still on her plate. She hadn't eaten even half of the food that was on her plate and she had seemed incredibly distracted about something ever since she'd come back from shopping and he wondered what was bothering her. "That was probably one of your best spaghetti bolognaise dinners, Hales." He said, hoping that she would talk to him now instead of continuing to ignore him like she had been doing ever since they had sat down at the table.

Haley was jolted out of her thoughts by Nathan talking to her. She nodded her head in acknowledgment but she didn't say anything to him, she was far too annoyed with herself to engage in conversation about tedious things such as how nice dinner was. She was punishing herself for not completing that run, torturing herself as her head replayed the moment she had given up on that damn run over and over again. She was fiddling with her spaghetti, wondering why she hadn't been able to just keep going for ten more minutes; it wouldn't have killed her, would it? She was so frustrated with herself and she had been ever since she had left the gym. In fact, she was sure her anger hadn't calmed down in the slightest, if anything it had only got more prominent. She sighed heavily to herself; she had no appetite at all for food so she dropped her fork onto her plate and rested her elbows on the table, running her hands through her hair in pure aggravation at herself.

Nathan couldn't help but raise his eyebrow at her. "Hales, is that really all you're eating?" He asked in a stern tone, hoping that she would understand that she was leaving far too much of her food for it to be acceptable. Surely she knew by now that he wasn't going to stand for that kind of behaviour, hadn't he already got his point across to her countless times before?

Haley lifted her head up from where she had been resting it in her hands and glared at him. "Nathan, don't even go there okay, I'm not in the mood for one of your lectures tonight." She snapped back at him, before she snatched her plate from the table, dragged her chair backwards and walked over to throw her spaghetti in the trash, if only to make a point because usually she kept any leftovers in the fridge for Nathan to munch on later.

Nathan was incredibly confused as his eyes followed her and he watched her throw away her dinner. She'd been in a foul mood all day and he had no idea why. She was fine this morning before she went out shopping and it was as if a different person had walked back inside the apartment. She was snapping at him left, right and centre, barking orders at him and giving him short answers to any questions he asked of her, if she even acknowledged the fact that he had asked them at all. Obviously she was having a bad day, but any attempt of his to coax out the reasons for that earlier on were met with either silence or some incredibly rude remarks, most of which centred around him 'keeping his nose out of her fucking business'. He stood up from the table and walked over to the sink, knowing better than to snap back at her. "Thank you for dinner, gorgeous." He said. "Why don't you let me wash up?"

Haley looked over at him from where she had been standing by the trash and knew that he was only trying to be nice to her. It wasn't his fault that she couldn't complete the hour's run, was it? She sighed heavily and nodded her head, walking over to him as she handed him her plate. "Okay, but if you're washing, I'll dry up." She said as she grabbed a tea towel and stood next to him at the sink, giving him a small smile when he looked over at her.

Nathan turned the tap and filled the washing up bowl with warm water as he added the washing up liquid. He'd prefer it if she just let him both wash and dry, she seemed like she really needed to relax, but he knew better than to argue with her when she was in one of these moods. "Deal." He said as he began to wash up the cutlery and handed it to Haley to dry.

Haley continued to watch Nathan wash up, as she dried up what he passed to her. She looked down at the plate he had just handed to her and turned it over, shaking her head when she saw how dirty it was. "Nathan, you do realise that plates have two sides to them right?" She asked as she looked between him and the plate for added emphasis.

Nathan sighed as he tried to wrestle the plate out of her hands, but her grip on it was much stronger than he had expected it to be and he couldn't get it out of her grasp. "Come on, Hales, let go and I'll wash it again." He said as he once again tried to pry the apparently dirty plate out of her hands. He really didn't want to rattle her given how much of a bad mood he knew that she was in already.

"No, Nathan, I want you to look at the plate and see for yourself how dirty it is." Haley responded as she made sure that she continued to hold onto it tightly so that he wouldn't be able to just wash the mess that remained on it away before he had acknowledged the fact that it was there.

Nathan glanced over at Haley with a raised eyebrow, before looking down at the plate, and he had expected to see a big circle of bolognaise sauce all over the back of it, only he found the tiniest mark he'd ever seen in his life was still left on it. "You're making this much of a fuss over that?" He asked incredulously as he pointed his soapy finger at the plate. "You'd need a damn microscope to spot that, Haley, and you'd only have found it if you went looking for it."

"Nathan!" Haley responded as she thrust the plate towards him. "You wouldn't need a microscope to spot the fact that the plate was still dirty because I found it without one. I knew I should have just said no to your offer of washing up, I'll only end up doing the whole damn load myself anyway." She muttered to herself as she grabbed the dish cloth he had been using to wash up the plates and bumped him out of the way with her elbow so that she could continue washing up her way, which, although meticulous, would at least make sure the dirty dishes were able to be used again without either of them moaning about how filthy they were. "You know, I don't understand how you can think something is clean when it so obviously isn't, it's really not that difficult to spot dirt on a white plate for crying out loud is it?"

Nathan rolled his eyes at her as he listened to her harp on about the damn dishes, did it really matter that much? He tried desperately hard to remain patient with her; he kept on telling himself that today just obviously wasn't her day. "You know, gorgeous, we do have a dishwasher we could use, which would mean that neither of us would have to wash up at all." He said, reminding her of the expensive equipment he'd had installed in the kitchen when they redesigned the kitchen, which never got used.

"And a damn waste of money that shitty machine was." Haley muttered back as she continued to scrub on the plate. "It cleans things even worse than you do."

"Jesus Christ, Hales, what the hell is wrong with you tonight?" Nathan snapped back at her, tired of the mood she seemed to be trapped in, as he wondered what the hell he had done to make her think that he deserved her to continuously bark at him like she was. He watched her wash up, scrubbing the plates with such an intensity he wondered if her arm was going to fly off her shoulder with the speediness of her movements.

"Nothing is wrong with me Nathan!" Haley shouted back at him as she inspected the plate, which was now impeccably clean and then placed it on the rack beside the sink a little more roughly than was necessary, before getting back to the dirty dishes that awaited her in the sink. "It's you! Why do you bother to offer to help me when you won't even do it properly? It frustrates me more than you not offering to help in the first place!"

"Well I can't fucking win can I?" Nathan yelled back at her. "If I don't offer to help, you moan at me for doing nothing, if I do offer to help, you moan at me for not doing it properly and then just take over anyway. What the fuck am I supposed to do then, Hales? What the fuck would make you happy?"

"You could just do it properly yourself, you know?" Haley continued to scream at him as she held out a tea towel towards him. "That way I wouldn't need to fucking interfere and I could leave you to do it yourself without having to watch over you."

Nathan could feel his breathing increasing in depth exponentially, he was so angry he was practically forcing himself to not retaliate back with another snarky comment because deep down he knew that this argument would get them absolutely nowhere. He was furious with her for making such a big deal out of nothing, for being so fucking hypocritical, for being such a damn woman, and yet among all those feelings that were currently coursing through his body, he couldn't shake the fact that he liked to see her this riled up, this angry and this intense because somehow, on some level, it had obviously turned him on, and despite his attempts to deny that fact, he couldn't argue with his cock, which was currently fighting against the material of his jeans, and that only made him even more frustrated at her than he already was. "So what, am I going to have to dry up too?" He asked incredulously as he snatched the tea towel out of her hand, she couldn't be serious, could she?

Haley turned to give him a dirty look before she continued with the washing up. "Well, Nathan, what the fuck do you expect? Do you expect me to do fucking everything in this apartment? At least you won't be able to make a mess of drying up. Well, actually, knowing you I'm sure you'll find something that will mean it isn't done properly…"

Nathan couldn't believe what was coming out of her mouth. He had to interrupt her before she continued to anger him any more than she had already achieved because the level of his fury was reaching dangerous levels. "Enough Haley." He roared. "I've fucking had enough of your fucking mood. Whatever I've fucking done to get you like this, I'm sorry okay? But for crying out loud will you stop with the bitching and the moaning?"

Haley was rather taken aback by his sudden, incredibly loud outburst. She was silent for a second and blinked back the tears that had suddenly appeared in her eyes. She knew that she was being a bitch, she knew that she had been in a mood all day, snapping at him every time he opened his mouth but she couldn't help how she felt today, and even though it made her an incredibly selfish bitch at the moment, she found that by shouting at Nathan, she was able to shelf her frustration at herself away for a short while, which had been a welcome break from her thoughts. She continued to wash up in silence, but she knew that Nathan was incredibly angry with her; she could hear his breathing in her ear, deep and forceful.

Now that Nathan had managed to shut her up, he found himself biting his tongue in an attempt to prevent himself from screaming at her himself. He knew he shouldn't say anymore, he knew he should just dry up as she'd asked him to and then suggest they watch one of her favourite films but he couldn't help himself. "I mean for fuck's sake, Hales. All day I've been trying to talk to you, I've been trying to decipher what's wrong with you but you've just pushed me away. I offer to help you cook dinner, I get an earful, I ask why you're not eating, you scream at me and throw all your dinner in the trash and then when I offer to wash up, you yell at me for leaving the smallest speck of dirt I've ever seen on the plate. What the hell is going on?" He barked at her.

Haley clenched her teeth together; she hated hearing all that Nathan was saying because she knew that he was right, but she didn't want to admit to him that she had been wrong. "You haven't been trying to talk to me all day Nathan, you've been hunched away in that damn study of yours." She snapped back at him, instead choosing to pick up on the only incorrect piece of information that had just come out of his mouth.

Nathan glanced over at her through narrowed eyes, really fucking pissed off that she had brought up work again. How many times did he have to tell her that he had a big project on at the moment and that he was busy? He breathed in deeply, finding himself really confused at how turned on he was at the moment because he was also absolutely furious with her. She wasn't telling him what was wrong which was frustrating him no end. But there was also the fact that they had argued before, plenty of times in fact and once again, he'd never had this kind of a reaction from it before. Why the hell was he as hard as a rock?

Haley placed the second plate, which was absolutely immaculate, on the drainer next to the sink and noticed that Nathan still hadn't taken the other plate from where she had left it. "Well are you going to…" She started and then jumped ten feet in the air.

Nathan threw his tea towel down on the counter top, making a ridiculously loud noise when the material hit the marble counter. He turned to face Haley, noticing that she had stopped washing up and was looking at him like he was a madman or something, which quite possibly he was at the moment. He didn't know what the hell he was doing, but he knew that he wanted to shut her the hell up and there was one sure way he knew to achieve that. Well, he hoped that she would be screaming at him but for entirely different reasons.

"Nathan what the fuck do you think you're doing?" Haley yelled at him as he grabbed onto her wrist and dragged her away from the sink.

Nathan looked around, quickly scanning the room for anything which would work as he mentally scanned through both of their lists, before deciding on the kitchen table. He pulled her roughly towards him and wrapped his arm around her waist, lifting her up off the floor as he kicked the chair out of the way, sitting her down on the table. He frowned for a brief second as he noticed that she felt a little lighter to him, but he was too irritated at her to dwell on those thoughts for longer than was necessary at the moment. "I'm shutting you the hell up." He returned as he grabbed onto the bottom of her tank top and nearly ripped it off her body, before deciding that he'd better take it off her properly; he didn't want her to be able to shout at him for anything else he'd done this evening.

Haley wanted to push him away, she wanted to tell him to stop but in the back of her mind she knew that if she did stop him, then they probably wouldn't get around to ticking anything of either of their lists this week, which surprisingly filled her with sadness and she knew that she would regret not doing it. So she lifted her arms up and allowed him to take off her top, which he then threw across the room. Haley bit down on her lip as she lowered her hands and rested them on the table beside her. Her mind was spinning at a thousand miles per hour as she wondered whether she should actually have sex with Nathan when she was this angry at him. "Nathan, I…" She started, but was soon cut off from speaking any further when she watched him step forward and her legs opened up involuntarily so that he could stand in between them.

"You've pissed me off enough tonight Haley, don't start fucking around with me now." Nathan said in a rather dominating tone. His cock was completely taking over his brain at the moment, he was still absolutely seething at her but his mind had now been completely clouded with thoughts of taking her. His breathing was deep and heavy, and he watched as Haley stopped biting down on her lip. His eyes travelled down her body and rested on the simple black t-shirt bra she had on, and despite it not being the most fancy of underwear, he couldn't help but find it incredibly sexy. He thought for just a second that it was Haley that he was finding sexy, and that she could have the most disgusting underwear on ever known to man, and he would still find it incredibly enticing, but he quickly disregarded those thoughts because now was not the time for him to enter into a mass debate with himself, he had far more tempting options right in front of himself.

Haley looked up at Nathan, wondering what the hell he thought he was saying to her, wondering where he had found the audacity to speak to her like that but she found that his eyes were completely mesmerized with her breasts. She was surprised by how much she liked him talking to her like that though, instead of finding it disrespectful, which is how she expected herself to act, she actually found it really sexy, like he was taking charge, like he wanted her that much he didn't care if he was pissed off at her for being the moodiest bitch on the planet. But she tried desperately to quash those thoughts completely because, as far as she was concerned, he was initiating sex with her because of an agreement they had made, and if they didn't do it tonight, then they wouldn't be doing it at all this week. She watched him, shivering as she felt his fingertips move up the side of her body until they hit her bra and then they moved along her back until they reached the clasp. She felt this fire, different to the anger that was still bubbling away underneath her skin, a fire of longing and yearning and she was rather overwhelmed with how much she wanted him in that very moment. She wanted him to look at her; she wanted to see what his eyes would be telling her. His fingers fiddled with the clasp of her bra and he lifted his gaze to her eyes, like he had heard what she had wanted without her even having to tell him and she found herself completely enthralled with the rage that was burning inside of him.

Nathan unclasped her bra and he then lowered his gaze from her eyes to her breasts as he watched the material loosen from her body slightly. He brought his hand back around to the front of her body and grabbed onto the material right in the middle of her breasts and pulled the bra off her body, watching as she brought her arms out in front of her so that he could remove it, and once it was free from her, he threw it behind him. He absolutely feasted on the sight of her bare breasts, watching in satisfaction as her nipples hardened for him, longing to run his tongue around them, to taste her. He lifted his gaze back up to her eyes, watching, completely mesmerized as she licked her lips with her tongue. Fuck. He could actually feel his cock getting even harder than it had been before, which he would have bet a rather large sum of money on being a complete impossibility. He really didn't want to be craving her as much as he was, especially given the bad mood that she had been in ever since she had walked back into the apartment from shopping earlier, but when she was sat there, half naked on the kitchen table, he knew that it wasn't even worth him attempting to start the battle with himself.

Haley licked her suddenly too dry lips as she watched Nathan stare at her breasts again. She heard the change in rhythm of his breathing and felt rather pleased that the mere sight of her was able to evoke that kind of reaction from him. She was secretly thrilled at the thought that Nathan wanted her so much whilst at the same time pondering whether it was actually a bad thing because she wanted him too. Wasn't she supposed to be angry at him, wasn't she in a bad mood? She felt the need to stop this weird situation, it was too much now wasn't it, wasn't everything just getting a little bit too familiar? Was having sex with Nathan while she was incredibly pissed off at everything, not just him, a good idea? "Nathan… I…" She started; however, further words were completely lost to her as she yelped in surprise when Nathan pushed her back so that she was lying flat on the table with her legs dangling off the edge.

Nathan couldn't help himself. He wanted to be able to just walk away from her and he should have been strong enough to do just that, he shouldn't be wanting her as much as he currently was, he knew it was wrong. But instead, he found himself hovering above her, his arms locked as he placed them by the sides of her shoulders, before he leant down, closing his eyes as his lips touched her shoulder, and then he left a trail of kisses down her chest towards her breasts. He smirked against her skin as he felt her arch her body into him while his mouth neared her breast, he was enjoying the power he held over her at the moment. He lifted his head up and looked down at her, noticing the glare that she was sending his way presumably because he hadn't continued in his path, and he couldn't help but chuckle at her attempt to be feisty with him. "You've been a fucking bitch to me today, Hales." He stated, not even giving her the chance to formulate a response before he continued. "And I can see it in your eyes that you don't want to be doing this with me right now." He said as he lifted one of his hands off the table and began to circle it around her nipple, watching as she withered underneath him. "But you want me." He said as he lifted his gaze up to her eyes. "Admit it; tell me that you want me."

The level of anger Haley felt towards Nathan grew exponentially in that moment. She hated the fact that her body wanted him so much, she knew that this should simply be something she could walk away from but she found herself desperate for him, which was a feeling she wasn't expecting to feel in the slightest. She was incredibly confused, she had all this anger swirling around inside of her which had suddenly been mixed with such a strong sense of desire, and it was all for the man hovering above her, circling his finger around her nipple torturously. And the fact that she was admitting to herself that she wanted him made her anger towards him, which she knew had been completely unjustified, well at least until now, grow even more intense. She glared at him as he continued to smirk at her and she despised herself for the way her body was responding to him, the way her back arched towards him in longing. She watched him raise an eyebrow at her as he expectantly waited for an answer, but she forced herself to remain silent.

Nathan raised his eyebrow at Haley as he waited for her to answer his question, but in all reality, he knew how stubborn she could be and so he wasn't really expecting one, not when she was in this big of a mood. But he wanted to hear how much she wanted him. He wasn't sure why it was so important for him to do so, maybe it would help to ease his own mind if he heard those words come from her mouth, because right now, in this very second, he wanted her so very badly, and he didn't want to think that it was all one sided, he wanted to know that she was just as caught up in this arrangement as he seemed to be. It was confusing as hell, but he needed that reassurance at the moment. He shook his head as she continued to stare angrily at him and he moved his finger away from her nipple, watching as her body lowered back to the table from its arched position. He trailed his finger down her breast and brought his other hand up to her body as he followed the contours of her curves down the sides of her body, until he got to her hips, and he began to unbutton her jeans, before he pulled them down her legs, taking her panties down at the same time. He then let her clothes drop to the floor as he gripped onto her calves and bent her legs so that her feet were resting on the edge of the table, and as his eyes swept over her naked body, he completely drowned in the surge of lust and desire that overcame him.

Haley had never felt more vulnerable in her life. She was confused as hell as she lay, completely naked on the kitchen table, and she noticed that the atmosphere in the room had shifted, it was now filled with longing, tension and yearning. She sucked in a sharp breath as she felt her body tingle with anticipation, she wanted to feel his hands on her body, she wanted to feel his lips on her skin and she wanted to feel him inside of her. But more importantly, she didn't want to admit any of these things, least of all to Nathan.

Nathan lowered his mouth to her skin again, completely overwhelmed once more with the sheer force of his feelings. It surprised him each time they began their escapades on a Saturday night and he knew that he should probably devote some time to consider why that was, but right now, he wanted nothing more than to hear Haley tell him how much she wanted him, and then bury himself inside of her. He left a trail of hot, wet kisses down the middle of her chest and then continued down to her stomach, revelling in the feel of his lips against her skin, enjoying the way she withered underneath him. Once he got to her belly button, he then licked his way back up towards her breasts, smirking when he heard Haley moan in response. God he loved that sound so much.

Haley wanted to kick herself for moaning, but the sensation of Nathan's tongue on her skin was too much. He knew exactly how to manipulate her, and when she heard him chuckle in response to what she hoped had been a quiet moan, she just rolled her eyes and vowed that she was going to remain strong. She knew what Nathan was like, he could be just as stubborn as she could be, and she had a feeling that he wasn't going to cave and take her until she had told him what he wanted to hear. She was silently telling herself to not give in, which was working, until she felt both of his fingers move up her body and then begin to circle her nipples again, and she couldn't help the second moan that escaped from her mouth as she arched her body upwards into his hand, craving more. She decided in that moment that she could want him, that was okay, she just wouldn't give him the satisfaction of hearing it.

Nathan grinned against her skin when he felt her hands wrap around his neck and then began to bunch up his t-shirt so that she could take it off him. He pulled away from her, allowing her to remove it from him, and he watched as her eyes travelled down his chest, to his stomach, before they eventually moved back up to his face. He raised his eyebrow at her. "See something you want, Hales?" He asked in a cocky voice, because the sounds that she had been making and the way her body was responding to his ministrations was proof enough, but she still hadn't told him so, and he desperately wanted to hear those words.

Haley rolled her eyes at Nathan and sat up, so that she was resting on her elbows. She felt rather emboldened, running high on the anger and adrenaline that was coursing through her veins, and she ran her eyes back down Nathan's body, settling them on the bulge she saw in his jeans. She then sat herself upright, causing Nathan to stand up straight and she made quick work of unbuttoning his jeans and pushing them, along with his boxers down his body, causing his cock to spring up to full attention. She then reached out and wrapped her hand around it. "What about you Nathan?" She asked in what she hoped was a sexy voice as she began to move her hand up and down his shaft. "Do you see something you like?" She asked as she looked up at him from underneath her eyelashes, but his eyes were completely trained on her hand and his cock.

Nathan couldn't take his eyes off Haley's hand, seeing it wrapped around his cock like that was a sight that he was sure he would never get bored with, or tire of. He was now turned on to the point where he actually didn't care, all he wanted was to be inside of her, to feel her muscles contracting around his cock, to hear her moaning and feel her withering underneath him. He grabbed a hold of her hand and stilled her motions, before he pushed her backwards so that she was lying on the table again. He then released her hands and lowered his head as he placed a series of kisses along her shoulder, his hands moving down the sides of her body as he concentrated on how good she felt underneath him. He hesitated for a brief second as his hands continued to follow the curves of her body, coming to the dip of her waist and he noticed for the first time that evening that she felt different. She felt thinner. He lifted lowered his mouth back to her shoulder and placed another light kiss there as he considered this for a moment, wondering if he should bring it up with her now, or whether it would be best to wait until later.

Haley could feel his ministrations beginning to slow and she instantly thought that he was stopping because she hadn't said what he had wanted to hear. She felt herself begin to panic, because now that he had started, she didn't want him to stop, she wanted him to continue, in fact she needed him to continue. She wrapped her arms around his neck and arched her back into him as she moved her hands into his hair, grabbing fistfuls of it as she tugged on it. Nathan was hovered over her in such a way that she could feel his hard cock against her thigh, and all embarrassment and discomfort about admitting the fact that she wanted him drained from her completely, because now that she thought he wasn't going to let her have it, now she thought that he was actually going to walk away and leave her here, completely unfulfilled, well it caused her to take some action, and she was completely overwhelmed with how desperate she was for him. "Nathan, please." She whimpered. "I want you."

The words Haley had just spoken echoed in Nathan's head and filled his body with this need which was so wild it completely overtook himself, allowing him to think of nothing but her, to feel nothing but her and to want nothing but her. He lifted his head up and stared into her eyes, her admission changing the atmosphere they were surrounded in completely. He moved his hands to her hips and pushed her further up the table, giving himself enough room to climb on top of it with her, before he settled himself in between her thighs. He swept her hair out of her face and lowered his mouth to her nose placing a light kiss on the tip of it, their earlier argument completely forgotten. "I want you too." He whispered as he pulled his mouth away from her slightly, and smiled down at her, seeing her smile back up at him shyly, which caused him to want her even more than he currently did.

Haley was slightly taken aback by the sincerity with which he had spoken those words, but she realised that she had probably sounded just as genuine when she had whispered them to him, because it was the truth, she did want him. She stared back into his blue eyes, and felt his cock at her entrance before he pushed himself slowly inside of her, filling her completely and she found herself feeling so amazed by how right she suddenly felt. She moved her hands back down to the nape of his neck and began to softly rake her nails over his skin as she felt him pull out from her just as slowly as he had entered her, and as he repeated the action, she arched her back up towards him and moaned softly.

Nathan continued to penetrate her in a slow, measured pace, a complete contrast to the furry of emotions that had been on display minutes previously. He continued to hover above her, not taking his eyes off her for even a second, watching how her face changed when he adjusted the angle of his hips slightly, which allowed him to go even deeper inside of her. But unlike previous times they'd had sex, there was no desire to speed up his actions, he was content, being inside of her like this, there was no feeling for the need to rush this at all, and Haley seemed to feel the same way, as even when she wrapped her legs around his waist, she didn't dig her heels into his bum like she had last weekend on the pool table in an attempt to get him to move faster, instead she simply moved her hips in time with the rhythm he had set.

Haley was completely trapped. She wasn't sure what was happening this time, but she felt almost suffocated by the emotions that were running through her body. She'd never felt more joined with Nathan before, having sex with him on previous occasions had never caused her to feel this way. She was slightly scared as she considered the magnitude of what they were exchanging here with their silent stares, but she was too caught up in it all to consider this for too long. Nathan hadn't upped the pace like he had previously, instead moving slowly and deeply inside of her, and she could feel her body responding, the yearning and longing she felt being intensified by the measured movements he was making.

Nathan hadn't upped the pace of his thrusts at all and neither had his gaze wavered from hers, and he was completely revelling in the feeling of moving so deeply inside of her. He could literally feel everything as he moved and he made sure that he drew as much pleasure out of it as Haley seemed to be. Eventually, he felt Haley's hands loosen around his neck and she dropped them to his shoulders, before she literally started to shudder underneath him, digging her nails into his skin. She lifted her back up off the table, arching herself into him completely as the grip of her ankles around his waist tightened and drew him inside of her while her muscles clenched forcefully and sporadically around his cock. He watched as she softly whispered his name, her face contorting in the most beautiful of ways as she succumbed to her orgasm, and he eventually found his own release, which was just as intense as hers had seemed to be.

Haley sat upright once she regained control of her breathing and wrapped her arms around Nathan's neck as she stared adoringly into his eyes, feeling rather sated after one of the most intense orgasms she'd ever had in her life. All the frustration and anger she had previously been feeling had been completely obliterated, a feeling of complete contentment and happiness replacing it, and she knew that it was all because of Nathan. He held this power over her that no one else could compete with; he knew her inside out and could read her like a book, knowing exactly what she needed before she had even begun to come up with the questions for herself. She really was the luckiest girl on the planet to have him in her life.

Nathan's breathing was still deep and heavy, and he closed his eyes, wanting to feel relaxed and at ease as he held onto Haley's waist, but he couldn't shake the concern he was feeling for her. She had felt completely different to him, even now as he gripped her waist, she felt slighter, slimmer and that caused him to be exceptionally worried. He opened his eyes and stared right into her eyes, not wanting her to be able to shy away or deceive him with her answer. "Gorgeous?" He asked, and then waited until he had her full attention. "You have been eating properly, haven't you?"

And just like that, her best friend changed completely. Haley instantly felt herself become incredibly defensive, still not wanting to share the fact that she was training for a marathon with Nathan because she knew that he would disapprove, she knew that he would want to say she wasn't strong enough, that she had been through too much this past year to consider taking something of that magnitude on. And even though she knew that he was right to think those things, she felt good when she ran, she felt like she was finally achieving something for herself. And the fact that he still didn't believe her when she had told him countless times that she was eating properly was what really irked her. She unwrapped her arms from around his neck and pushed him away from her, before she jumped off the table and began to walk to her room. She was really pissed off that he had managed to ruin an amazing moment that had just occurred between them and so she wasn't even going to respond to his question, it didn't merit her wasting her breath over it.

~*~

Haley walked into the kitchen the following morning to find a plate full of greasy breakfast food waiting on the table and she scrunched up her nose at the smell that filled the room. She paused in the doorway to the kitchen before raising her eyebrow at the plate which was sat on the table, and then moved her gaze over to Nathan, who was frying something on the stove. She then watched incredulously as Nathan emptied the contents of the frying pan onto the already full plate; the food was piled so high it was a wonder it didn't spill over the edge. "How on Earth are you going to eat all that?" She asked as she walked over to the cupboard and pulled out a mug, before pouring some of the freshly brewed coffee from the machine into it, taking a sip of the hot, comforting liquid as she leaned against the counter.

Nathan placed the frying pan into the sink and then turned around, picking up the mug of coffee he had placed on the counter top beside him. "Oh no, gorgeous, that plate isn't for me, it's for you." He said as he took a gulp of his coffee and then motioned with his hand for Haley to sit down at the table.

Haley still hadn't moved from where she was leaning against the counter, staring unbelievably at how much food was on that plate, before she raised her shocked eyes up to meet Nathan's and she laughed at the very notion of her being able to eat that much food. "Nathan, in case you didn't notice, there's only one of me. You're not feeding a damn army!" She said, shaking her head at how ridiculous he was being, because she knew instantly that this had everything to do with the comments he'd made to her last night.

"I know there's only one of you Haley." Nathan returned seriously. "But you're going to eat that food."

"No, I'm not going to eat all that food Nathan, for God's sake! I'm eating… all the time and I'm eating sensibly. So quit with all the overprotective shit on this subject okay, it's getting old." Haley snapped back as she gulped down the rest of her coffee and slammed her mug back down on the counter so hard she was surprised that the cup didn't crack under the force she had used.

Nathan raised his eyebrow at Haley again as he calmly took another sip of his coffee, bemused by her theatrics. "I'm not going to stop worrying about you Haley, ever, and I'm not going to apologise for being so protective of you either." He said as he placed his now empty cup back down on the countertop beside him and made sure that she was looking at him before he continued; knowing that he shouldn't really say what he was about to but he didn't know what else he was supposed to do. "I will not have you ending up back in that hospital." He said in a much more stern voice that he had previously been using which was laced with conviction.

Haley could feel the fire running through her veins as her blood began to boil with fury and she glared back at Nathan who was still looking at her pointedly. He knew how much she despised talking about that, so why the hell would he bring it up now? "I'm not going to end up back in the hospital, Nathan." She returned through gritted teeth as she felt her fingers clench around the countertop she was leaning against.

"Aren't you Haley? Because I can remember what you were like before, you were lying to me, telling me that you'd eaten when you hadn't, you were practically wasting away. And I will not let that happen to you again, Hales. I won't. I made the mistake of believing what you were telling me last time this happened and I won't make the same mistake twice." Nathan returned, meaning every single word that had just come out of his mouth. He couldn't have her be like that again, and he was going to make damn sure that she never got herself into that situation again. "And I don't care what you say, gorgeous, I know you've lost some weight recently, I could feel it last night, so don't feed me the bullshit lies, okay? I know you've not been eating properly, and I'm going to change that right this second."

Haley had to bite her tongue in order to stop herself from screaming back at Nathan that she had been working out, not dieting or skipping meals or whatever the hell he thought had been going on, but she didn't think that would go down too well at the moment. She had thought that she and Nathan had a silent understanding about bringing up the events of the aftermath of her relationship with Chase, but it seemed that agreement had now been broken, and she was absolutely livid with him for it. She glowered at him as she marched over to the other side of the kitchen and opened the cupboard next to his head which housed the plates, grabbing one for herself and then proceeding to slam the cupboard door shut so hard that she watched in slight satisfaction as he jumped at the sound. She then walked over to the plate of food, took some of the bacon and a couple of hash browns that were piled as high as a mountain and slid them onto her plate. She could feel the tears beginning to form in her eyes, making her vision blurry as she walked over to the cutlery drawer and pulled herself out a knife and fork, noisily clanging the cutlery together as she did so. She hated being reminded of what happened after she and Chase had broken up, she knew that Nathan was worried and he had bought it up in a roundabout way every now and then, but he had never directly referred to it and she felt almost betrayed by the fact that he had done precisely that. She felt ashamed and embarrassed about what had happened and didn't want to be reminded of it in the slightest, and so right now, in this very moment she was furious at him for reminding her of it. She pushed the open cutlery drawer shut with far too much force and heard it bang loudly when it closed and she spun herself around to glare at Nathan, hating herself for the fact that a traitorous tear was now falling down her cheek, and the fact that she had no hands free to wipe it away. "I am not feeding you bullshit when I say I am eating Nathan." She eventually said. "I am not lying to you in the slightest, so back the fuck off." She sniffed and then started to walk out of the kitchen.

Nathan sighed heavily as he watched Haley's retreating form walk out of the kitchen. He leaned his head back and looked up at the ceiling for a brief second, exasperated and incredibly concerned for her, before he glanced over at her again upon hearing her footsteps falter in their movement.

Haley stopped in her tracks and turned to face Nathan again, the tears now falling freely down her face as she couldn't get thoughts about that damn hospital out of her head. She could hear the beeping of the machines, see the dull, plain white walls and feel the uncomfortable pillow beneath her head. She had to shake her head in an attempt to prevent herself from drowning in those thoughts which were currently plaguing her head. "And I cannot believe that you brought that up, Nathan." She said with a shaky voice, feeling utterly and completely betrayed by her best friend. She glanced to the side of the kitchen, away from Nathan as she blinked rapidly in an attempt to quell even more tears falling, and then turned to walk out of the room, needing to find some space away from him so that she could be alone to process her thoughts and try to simmer the anger she could still feel bubbling away inside of her. She knew just the place where she could vent in peace and quiet.

~*~

"So tell me how you managed to deceive me into helping you with manual labour on a Sunday again, Luke?" Nathan panted as he lifted the new black leather sofa up over his head so that he could create the angle he needed to turn the monstrous couch around the corner. Just as was becoming routine lately, he had been horded up in his study working when Luke called feigning an emergency. Haley had stormed out of the apartment three hours ago and the work he had been doing had been preventing him from wallowing in guilt over what he had said to her about the hospital earlier.

Lucas chuckled as he carefully manoeuvred the sofa around the corner. "Higher on the left, bro." He instructed as he continued to walk back towards his front door. "And as for the manual labour, well, they wanted to charge me some ridiculous sum of money just to carry the damn thing up three flights of stairs, and I thought to myself why would I pay all that cash when my strong little brother could come around and help?"

Nathan grunted in disapproval. "Well, your little brother was busy working. Couldn't you have called Jake?" He asked as he breathed a sigh of relief that they had finally made it to the front door of Lucas and Brooke's apartment. He placed the sofa down on the floor at the same time as Lucas did; preparing himself to lift it for what was hopefully the last time.

Lucas reached into his pocket for his keys and shot Nathan an 'are you serious' look. "Dude, I don't think Jake would have been able to lift that sofa an inch off the ground let alone carry it up three flights of stairs." He responded as he turned the key in the lock and opened up the front door.

Nathan couldn't help but laugh at that. "I guess you're right." He said as he bent down and looked over at Luke who had also just bent down to get a grip on the bottom of the sofa. "You good?" He asked as he waited for the signal to lift again.

"I'm good." Lucas responded and nodded his head as he too lifted the sofa up off the ground. "We're going to have to turn it on its side to get it through the front door."

Nathan did as he was told and turned the sofa, and soon enough it was placed in the living room in the spot where the previous sofa had lived. As soon as he placed it down on the carpet, he flopped down onto the sofa, feeling the ache in his arms; he was completely exhausted after that little escapade. The moment he found that he had nothing in particular to think about, he mind wandered back to Haley and the argument they'd had earlier. He knew it was slightly low of him to bring up that hospital stay but he couldn't help how worried he felt about her. Her body had felt completely different last night, she felt slimmer, lighter and those facts had caused him to become extremely anxious about her, and that was something he would never apologise for. He couldn't however shake the feeling that he had broken some sort of secret code they had installed within their friendship and for that he felt incredibly guilty.

"You want a beer?" Lucas asked as he began to walk into the kitchen, praying that Nathan wouldn't call him out on his ulterior motive for getting him over here in the first place. He genuinely had wanted help with the sofa but there was something else he wanted to talk to him about and given that the only time he got to see Nathan at the moment was at the bar on Friday's, he needed an excuse to get him over here so he could speak with him privately.

"Sure." Nathan sighed as he brought himself back from his thoughts of Haley. He'd come to the conclusion that he'd apologise to her about bringing the hospital up but there was no way he was ever going to 'back the fuck off' like she had requested of him this morning. He rather hoped that statement of hers had been said in the heat of the moment rather than being something she actually wanted him to do, because there was no way in hell that was ever going to happen.

Lucas handed Nathan a beer and sat down on the new sofa next to his brother, taking a swig out of the bottle as he pondered how he should start the topic of conversation. He glanced over at Nathan and could see that he was deep in thought about something, he also looked incredibly tired and stressed, clearly he had been working far too hard recently, but that didn't really surprise Lucas in the slightest. Nathan had to be the King of avoiding issues; he constantly threw himself into his work rather than taking the time to deal with matters of importance, matters which were personal to him. "So Brooke and I were thinking of going up to see Lily in three weeks time, and we wanted to know if you wanted to come with us?" He asked tentatively because usually this particular subject lit a fire in Nathan and he knew how much his brother despised talking about it.

Nathan sucked in a sharp breath at the mention of her name and lowered the beer bottle he was currently taking a swig out of to his lap. He then closed his eyes for a brief second, hating the fact that Lucas had even thought to bring this up. "I won't be coming with you." He said simply, before placing his half empty beer bottle down on the coffee table and standing up from the sofa, wanting to get out of his brother's apartment before the argument started.

Lucas watched Nathan stand up from the sofa and sighed heavily at his brother. "Nathan, it's been five years nearly, you can't avoid this forever!" Lucas said, completely exasperated with how Nathan had chosen to deal with this.

"I know how long it's been Lucas; I don't need reminding of it." Nathan responded through clenched teeth as he tucked his hands in the pockets on his jeans and moved towards the hallway.

"So what, are you just going to run out of the room like you always do whenever anyone brings Lily up?" Lucas called after his brother as he stood up from the sofa and placed his beer bottle down next to Nathan's on the coffee table before he straightened himself out, watching Nathan's retreating form walk out of the living room. "When are you going to start dealing with this Nathan?"

Nathan breathed in deeply as he felt his chest constrict painfully. The anger he always felt whenever anyone brought her name up bubbled away inside of him and despite the fact that he knew it was just his way of pushing the guilt aside, he couldn't help the fact that he wanted to throw a punch at his brother to just shut him the hell up. He turned around and glared at Lucas, his breathing deep and heavy, and he struggled to maintain control of his emotions as they both stood there in the silent apartment. "I am dealing with it Luke, I deal with it every single fucking second of every day. Okay? I deal with it every time I look in a mirror and wonder why I'm here and every time any one mentions that god damned tattoo. So don't you dare stand there and try to dictate how I should deal with it." He yelled at his brother, filling the otherwise silent space with his loud voice.

"Nathan, I wouldn't stand here and bring it up if I thought you had dealt with it, but your defensive reaction to me merely mentioning that we're going up to see her clearly shows that you're not dealing with it at all, and neither are you over it." Lucas said back calmly, not wanting to fight with Nathan about this, but sometimes his dismissive attitude made it hard for him not to want to just grab him and knock his head against a wall, hopefully knocking some sense into it at the same time.

"I am not defensive about it Luke, I just don't want to talk about it." Nathan seethed back at his brother, his fingers clenching into fists at the side of his body, the anger bubbling away at a much higher intensity just underneath his skin.

"Yes you are Nate! I mean it's been five years and I can't even recall a time where you've brought her name up in conversation, and as soon as anyone else does, you simply run away. How the hell is that dealing with it?" Lucas shouted back, mentally berating himself for getting so worked up about it all. He knew this wasn't the way to deal with Nathan and the whole Lily scenario, but he'd just about completely lost his patience with his brother on this one.

"So just because I don't want to talk about it, how does that mean that I'm not dealing with it in my own way, Luke?" Nathan roared back at his brother.

"Because it's been nearly five years…" Lucas started but was soon interrupted from speaking any further by Nathan who started yelling over his own voice.

"I know how fucking long it's been Lucas, I don't need your constant reminders." Nathan shouted. "Honestly do you think I've forgotten or something? Is that why you feel the need to repeat the fact that it's been nearly five years to me constantly?"

"Well Nathan quite honestly I wouldn't know if you did remember it or not, given that you've only been to see her once and that was because it was mandatory." Lucas yelled back. "I find it so frustrating Nathan that you can't be a big enough man to deal with this properly. What the hell are you afraid of?"

Nathan was almost taken aback by his brother's shouting. He knew that Lucas was more than a little frustrated about how he had chosen to deal with it but he had no idea he held this much anger over his choices. But despite being a little overwhelmed by the attack Lucas had placed on him today, it was those last words which really unsettled him because his brother had hit the nail on the head. He thought he had built this façade that no one could see through, well he knew that Haley could see right through him but that was to be expected and she had allowed him to sort this whole thing out in his own way, and she knew not to butt her nose in and give her opinion on the matter because she knew that he wouldn't want to hear it. But Lucas was right. He was afraid; in fact he was absolutely petrified about what would happen if he went to see her. He didn't know what his reaction would be; he didn't know how he would be able to deal with any of it and that was why he had completely thrown himself into his work, because it was a distraction from the reality of the situation he knew that he had yet to face.

Lucas could see that his words had changed something in his brother and he finally felt like he was making some kind of progress with him. He continued to watch as Nathan pondered his words, pleased that the yelling seemed to have stopped for the moment at least. He could see how Nathan had avoided the whole thing, and he did understand why he had done it, but all the guilt that he was carrying around wasn't healthy in the slightest, and he needed to face that so he could truly move on. "Well Nathan, tell me, what are you afraid of?" Lucas asked calmly, really hoping that Nathan would see this as an opportunity to open up and have someone listen to what he was trying to deal with.

Nathan listened to his brother repeating his words and almost as instantly as his guard had been dropped, the wall quickly rebuilt itself around him. He knew that Lucas was only trying to help; he got the fact that his brother was worried about him but he had meant what he had said. He was dealing with this in his own way, and just because that didn't conform to Lucas' way of thinking didn't mean that it was wrong by any means. "I'm not afraid of anything." Nathan returned as he continued to glare at his brother, really wishing that he had just declined his call for help in the first place, that way he wouldn't need to be hearing any of this shit. He'd completely had enough of this conversation. "I'm going home." He said and then turned abruptly and headed towards the door.

"So that's it, you're just going to run away again, Nathan?" Lucas called after him as he ran his hand through his hair, really disappointed that he found himself once again back at square one. He really thought this five year anniversary would be a chance for him to open Nathan up a bit, but obviously he was wrong.

"I'm not running away Luke, I have work to do." Nathan yelled back at his brother as he walked down the hallway towards the front door.

Lucas sighed as he walked behind his brother. "Well at least let me give you a lift home."

"No thanks, I'll walk." Nathan said as he opened up the front door and ran down the stairs.

Lucas rolled his eyes at his brother's stubbornness and grabbed the keys to the van and his coat before he slammed the door shut behind him and ran after his brother. "Nate, it's pissing it down outside, at least let me take you home."

"No Luke. You'd be going out of your way." Nathan called up the stairwell, wishing that Lucas would just take the hint and leave him be. He was still utterly furious that Lucas had brought Lily up, as if he didn't have enough on his mind, he now had to worry about Lucas bringing that up at any given second too.

"Well I've got to pick Brooke up from the gym anyway, so at least let me take you halfway." Lucas said as he continued to race after Nathan down the stairs.

Nathan rolled his eyes at his brother, wanting nothing more than to be left alone, but once he reached the bottom of the stairs, he opened the door and then paused on the front steps of the building. Lucas hadn't been lying when he had said that it was pissing it down. "Fucking great." He muttered to himself. He glanced down at what he was wearing, just a polo shirt and some jeans, so obviously he was going to get absolutely soaked if he walked home. He stuck his head out and glanced up at the dreary grey sky and saw that the rain didn't look like it was going to relent any time soon.

Lucas jogged down the last couple of stairs, pleased to see that Nathan was having second thoughts about walking home in the rain. He joined his brother and held out the keys. "Come on." He said as he ran out of the front door and opened the van up as he climbed inside.

Nathan sighed to himself, realising that he had the choice of either getting drenched, or staying dry but having to travel with Lucas, and despite how angry he was with his brother, he knew which one he thought was more appealing. He ran down the steps to the other door of the van and got inside, slamming the door shut behind him. He'd got soaking wet just from running for two seconds in the rain so he'd obviously made the right choice, despite the company he was going to have to keep for the next ten minutes or so.

~*~

Nathan had managed to be persuaded by Lucas on the journey over to pick Brooke up that he should let him give him a lift all the way home. It was still raining heavily outside and he had no coat and no umbrella, and Lucas had half mumbled an apology to him also. The rest of the ride had been ridden in complete silence, which Nathan was grateful for because it meant that he had some time to mull over his thoughts about Lily and the way that he had handled it all. As far as he was concerned, he had dealt with it, and he had moved on. What did it matter that he hadn't been to see her?

He noticed that Lucas had indicated and they pulled up outside a gym which he hadn't noticed before, and he glanced around as he tried to get a hold of his bearings given that he hadn't been paying attention to the drive they had just been on. He glanced at the street name and realised that they weren't too far from Haley's office, and he wondered why he'd never noticed the place before. He then sighed heavily to himself as he realized that he was going to have to apologise to Haley profusely once she got home. He hoped that she would already be there when he got in because he felt rather unsettled given that he knew she was upset about something he had said to her, and so he wanted them to get back to normal as quickly as was possible. He then glanced towards the entrance to the gym and his mouth almost dropped open in shock, for there, standing inside the gym alongside Brooke, dressed distinctly in workout clothes, was none other than Haley herself. He could feel the fury rise inside of him as she walked outside trailing just behind Brooke, completely carefree and not noticing the fact that he was there. He breathed in deeply as he unbuckled his seatbelt in preparation for getting himself out of the van. What the fuck was she doing in a gym?

**AN – Okay, so Nathan's found out about the gym… how do we think he's going to react? And who the hell is Lily and what's up with that whole situation? Please let me know what you thought of the chapter by leaving me a review :o)**

**As always a preview is available to those of you that want it, just let me know in a review if you do and I'll get it out to you as soon as I can.**

**Teaser pics will be up on my blog soon (www dot ilovenaley dot blogspot dot com ) and also head over there to see the video that Anissa made!**


	8. Chapter 8

**AN – Hey guys. Sorry for the wait with this chapter. I hope you all had a great Christmas and New Year. And thank you all so much for the lovely reviews you've been leaving.**

**As always a couple of words to those of you without accounts who left reviews so I couldn't respond personally. **Eline – **I am so pleased you are enjoying this story so much, I hope you enjoy reading the new chapter! **BlueJean452 – **You'll get to see how Nathan reacts in this chapter, I hope you like the update! **Lou – **I'm so pleased you liked the chapter and I hope you enjoy this one too! **Nicole – **I'm so glad you enjoyed chapter 7, sorry I couldn't get you the sneak peek – either you didn't leave your email address in the review or I couldn't see it! Hope you like the new chapter! **Irene – **I hope you got the email with the preview? Glad you can see things changing between Nathan and Haley, hope you like the update. **Nicole – **Sorry I couldn't get this update done before Christmas, but I hope you like it! **Soo – **So glad you're enjoying the story – hope you like the new chapter!**

**Major thanks go out to Kristen and Rebecca who encourage me and read through my stuff before I post – thank you girlies!**

**Alright - Nathan's just spotted Haley at the gym...**

**Enjoy!**

**Chapter Eight**

Haley had been completely surprised to find Brooke in the gym. She had been working out on the punch bag, throwing all the aggression she felt towards Nathan and the fact that he'd had the audacity to bring up that damn hospital stay she'd faced into each strike she threw at the heavy bag. She felt a hell of a lot better for it, and had calmed down significantly since she had left the apartment. She could feel the burn in her arms which was a testament to how hard she was working herself but in a way the pain only served to spur her on further. She had been so caught up in her work out; it wasn't until Brooke tapped her on the shoulder when she realised that she had been calling her name. She spun around with her hands up in front of her face, pissed off at being interrupted, but then quickly lowered her hands when she realised it was just Brooke.

"Jesus, Haley, what's got you so worked up?" Brooke asked as she took a step away from Haley, seeing the fire burning in her eyes. She looked rather dangerous and she didn't want Haley to be punching her face.

"Nathan." Haley responded bluntly as she breathed in and out deeply, still out of breath from the work out she had just been doing.

Brooke raised her eyebrow at Haley. "What's he done now?"

Haley sighed heavily as she took off her boxing gloves. "Nothing. He's just being the same old Nathan. Overprotective, overbearing, excruciatingly annoying..."

Brooke couldn't help her giggling because that most certainly sounded like a rather accurate description of the way Nathan was with Haley. "Well he's clearly annoyed you; you were really working that punch bag."

Haley could tell that Brooke was subtly trying to probe her for information but she really didn't want to bring the whole situation up right now, not when she would only end up getting angry and upset from talking about it again. She had sort of managed to calm herself down somewhat and didn't want to go back to being as frustrated as she had been before she started her work out. "He did." She sighed and then began to bite down on her lip, chewing on it out of aggravation. She prayed that Brooke would take the hint and restrain herself from prodding any further, but she honestly expected Brooke to ask more questions, because that was simply the way that she was. So she was mentally bracing herself for what she knew was about to come.

Brooke desperately wanted to ask more questions but she could sense from Haley's stance that she didn't want to talk about it any further and so she stopped herself before her mouth started asking all kinds of things, knowing that Haley was obviously riled up enough already and she didn't really want to add to that. Surprising even herself, she pushed all her thoughts on the subject of Nathan out of her head and she turned to stare out of the window for a second before she then glanced over at the clock on the wall. "Well Luke's coming to pick me up in five minutes; you're welcome to grab a lift home if you want?" She asked and then smiled at Haley.

"Oh no, it's fine. I wouldn't want to make Luke drive in completely the wrong direction just to get me home. I'll walk." Haley responded and smiled back at Brooke as she cradled her boxing gloves in her hands, pleased and also feeling incredibly shocked that for once Brooke had managed to contain herself and wasn't asking thousands of questions. It really was quite the turnaround.

"Haley, have you seen the weather outside?" Brooke asked with another raised eyebrow before she moved her head towards the window.

Haley turned her head and glanced out of the window and could see the rain falling heavily outside. She saw the thick, grey clouds on the horizon, making it seem like it was already dark and knew that the rain wouldn't let up any time soon which only added to her fury. Although she had managed to work off some of her anger, she was still annoyed at Nathan for having the nerve to bring up that subject point when he knew how much it would upset her. So she didn't want to head home just yet because she wanted to stew in her fury for a while longer in the hope that she would calm down completely. But on the other hand, she really didn't fancy getting soaked through either. "Are you sure Lucas won't mind?" She asked and then began to follow Brooke out of the gym towards the changing rooms.

"Of course he won't mind!" Brooke said as she led them both towards the changing rooms so that they could grab their stuff from the lockers. "You don't mind if we head straight outside do you, it's just I don't want to keep Luke waiting..."

Five minutes later, Haley found herself waiting in the reception area of the gym. She and Brooke were keeping an eye out for Lucas only he seemed to be running a little late.

"So where's Ryan this week?" Brooke asked casually, trying to keep the grin off her face as she looked distractedly out of the glass doors of the gym. She glanced quickly over to Haley and instantly spotted that she had grown a tad nervous now that the subject of conversation had moved onto Ryan, and she grinned fully to herself. She loved that Haley was into Ryan, and from the looks of things, Ryan seemed into Haley too, which meant only one thing for Brooke; it was time for the fun to begin.

Haley fiddled with her hands and then knew that she was giving too much away, and so she adjusted her gym bag which was resting on her shoulder. She still wasn't comfortable with anyone knowing that she was training for a marathon and so whenever the subject of Ryan was bought up by anyone, she instantly grew tetchy. "I don't think he's working today." She responded casually and then refused to meet Brooke's eye because she knew that she would only jump to some inconceivable conclusion.

Brooke continued to grin to herself and then noticed that a white van pulled up right outside the front door of the gym. She squinted through the drizzle and instantly noticed that Luke was sitting in the driver's seat of the van. She then proceeded to jump up and down in complete excitement. "He's got a van!" She said as she skipped towards the front doors of the gym.

"Who's got a van?" Haley asked in bewilderment. She was incredibly confused because she had been expecting Brooke to launch into one of her tirades about Ryan and had mentally been preparing herself not to take any additional anger she felt on top of the fury residing inside of her towards Nathan out on Brooke for doing so. In all honesty she wasn't convinced that her body could house any further anger anyway, if it did she was sure that she would explode and so she was incredibly thankful for the change in topic of conversation.

"Lucas!" Brooke responded as she grabbed onto Haley's hand and walked them out towards the waiting van. "He must have finally picked up the sofa we ordered like three months ago!"

Haley allowed Brooke to drag her out of the building towards the van only she halted completely in her movements when she saw Nathan step out of the van and slam the door shut with an incredible force, the sound echoing heavily through the air. She shook her hand free from Brooke's grasp and rooted herself to the spot, breaking out in a complete panic. She lowered her eyes and took in what she was wearing, noting her work out shorts and cropped sports top. There really was no mistaking what she was doing here, was there? _Fuck. _She stared down at the floor as she bit down on her lip, racking her brain for any possible excuse but she knew that one didn't exist. She had literally been caught red handed, and after their discussion earlier, she instantly realised that Nathan's wrath towards her was about to get ten times stronger than it had been this morning.

Nathan slammed the door to the van shut and walked towards Haley, his hands clenched into fists at the sides of his body. He was absolutely seething, how could she lie to him like this? And moreover, why did she feel the need to work out? Didn't she understand that she was slim enough as she was? She had told him that she was being careful, that she was eating and taking care of herself, but evidently that wasn't the case. No wonder she'd felt so slim to him last night, if she wasn't eating properly and was working out as well. What the hell was she doing? Did she want to land back in that hospital? The rain was lashing down around them but he didn't even feel the water hitting his body, all he could feel was the intense rush of anger coursing through his veins. He closed the distance between them and when he was standing in front of her he halted in his movements completely and stared down at her. He watched as her eyes rose to meet his from where she had been looking down at the ground and she was biting her lip because she was nervous, and she damn well should be. He looked back at her with an incredibly angry glare; he just couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"Hey, are you two going to get in or are you going to stand here and catch pneumonia?" Lucas shouted over to them as he helped Brooke climb into the van.

Haley brought her hands together in front of herself and began to play with them in an effort to try to get her brain to think of something else other than the nerves she felt over Nathan finding out about the whole gym situation like this. She tried to move her eyes away from Nathan's because he was looking so furiously at her she could barely take it but somehow her eyes seemed to be locked to his, they were unmoveable. She was shivering from the cold rain that was falling around her but her brain didn't seem to comprehend how numb her fingers were getting; all that was running through her mind at the moment were various scenarios which Nathan would bestow on her, and none of them were very pretty…

Nathan was that angry at her, he actually didn't know what to say to her. His fists were shaking at his sides and words were completely failing him as the fury he felt towards her for being so self-conscious and stupid about herself rushed through his veins. God, was she really that much of an idiot? "We'll catch a cab, I'll talk to you later Luke." He called out to his brother, refusing to move his unrelenting gaze from Haley for even a second.

"Are you sure?" Lucas asked as he began to climb into the van, wondering why the atmosphere between them appeared to be so tense.

"It's only got three seats, we'll be fine." Nathan responded and then heard the van door shut. The engine then roared to life and he heard Lucas drive away, leaving them on their own. He ran his eyes over Haley's face and could see that she was shivering, and despite how livid he was with her, despite how much he wanted to stand here and shout and scream at her, he knew he couldn't because he certainly didn't want her getting ill. He shook his head to himself, knowing that he was far too soft when it came to her, but he also knew that he could never be any other way around her either and then turned around, flagging down a passing cab. Once it stilled to a halt beside him, he opened the door and held it open for Haley, raising his eyebrows at her as she continued to stare at him with a petrified look on her face. After a few seconds, she must have realised that it would be warm and dry in the cab and so she walked over to him and climbed inside. He lowered himself onto the back seat next to her, closed the door, gave the driver their address and then debated with himself about how best to handle this situation; all the while trying desperately to make some of the anger he still felt rushing through his body dissipate.

~*~

The ten minute cab ride had been excruciating for Haley. Nathan literally hadn't said a word to her and her brain was becoming increasingly frazzled with how she thought he was going to react to finding out about all of this. She knew he was angry and she also knew that the anger he felt towards her right now came from a good place; it was because he was worried about her, but still, she was incredibly anxious about what would happen when they got back to the apartment. Half of her didn't want them to ever get back home, whereas the other half of her just wanted to get the argument she knew was brewing out of the way.

Nathan was doing his best to think of calming thoughts. He was trying desperately hard to think of something relaxing; he was picturing himself lying in the field behind the large estate his family owned outside of the city, the one place in the world where he was always able to be serene and tranquil, but he still couldn't get his brain to calm down for even a second. Instead of keeping the picture of himself laying among the long grass, his brain was switching almost immediately to Haley laying in that hospital bed with needles coming out of her arms and the machines beeping away at the side of her bed. He had vowed to himself that he would ensure that she never ended up there again, and feeling the changes he felt to her body last night, he knew that he was failing miserably in his task, which made him even more furious at everything. He hated failing more than anything else in this world.

After what felt like an eternity, the taxi eventually pulled up right outside their apartment building. Haley watched in silence as Nathan paid the taxi driver and he then walked out of the taxi and left the door open for her to climb out of. She scurried along after him as they made their way inside the apartment building, gripping onto her gym bag with an incredibly nervous hand and ended up by his side as she waited for the elevator to arrive with him. The doors opened and Nathan allowed her to enter first. She walked inside and then watched as he entered behind her, pressing the button for their floor and the doors then closed in front of them before the elevator began its ascent. The quiet and the tension which was surrounding them was so palpable to her; she could feel it suffocating her and she desperately wanted to get out of this confined space as quickly as she could.

As soon as the elevator doors opened, Nathan walked out quickly, wanting to get some distance between himself and Haley so that he could give his brain a couple more seconds to think about what he was going to do about the current situation. He wanted to grab a hold of her shoulders and shake her until she realized that she was perfect as she was. In fact, she could do with putting on a couple of pounds, not losing them. How could she not see that? What did she see that was so obviously illogical to him, and everyone else around him? How could she be so self conscious about herself? Her lack of confidence in her appearance was starting to drive him completely insane because he didn't know what to do about it at all. He eventually reached the door to their apartment and opened it, this time walking through himself first, not stopping to be a gentleman and allowing Haley to walk through before him because he hoped that by walking back inside his home, inspiration would strike and he'd be able to fix all of this mess, because right now his mind was clouded with incredibly dense fog, and he couldn't see anything clearly.

Haley walked into the apartment behind Nathan and closed the door slowly. She had half a mind to leave it open so that she could run away from the storm that was about to hit as quickly as possible, but she didn't really want the neighbours to hear what was about to happen. She lowered her hands to her sides and turned around to face Nathan, flinching when she heard his keys hit the side table that was in the hallway. She took a deep breath as she steadied herself, getting herself ready to deal with the tirade she knew he was about to unleash towards her. She dropped her gym bag from her shoulder and heard it land with a thud on the floor. Nathan then chose this moment to turn around, and she watched as his eyes lingered on her gym bag before they slowly rose to meet her own gaze. She felt a shiver run up her spine as she took in just how angry he was with her.

The sound of Haley's gym bag hitting the floor resonated through Nathan's entire body and he slowly turned around after having thrown his keys on the table in the hallway to glare at the offending item before he slowly dragged his eyes up Haley's body, skimming over the tiny gym shorts she had on, moving his eyes over her slim stomach to the cropped top she had on until his eyes finally fell on her face. He could see how nervous she was, and in all honesty, she should be. He desperately wanted to find the reassuring words which would mean that she would understand that she was perfect as she is, but his brain was overloaded with thoughts of that hospital which he couldn't seem to shake from his mind. It was those thoughts which were fuelling the fire of anger that was roaring through his entire body and he knew in that moment that he didn't have an ounce of control over what would come out of his mouth. "Do you mind explaining to me what the hell you think you've been doing?" He fumed.

Haley's whole body shook with the volume of his words and she tore her eyes away from his penetrating and scary glare, choosing instead to look down on the floor. She could feel her entire body wanting to just melt into a puddle on the floor so that she wouldn't have to deal with all of this but she knew that she needed to be strong and therefore that meant standing her ground. She took a deep breath and squared her shoulders as she raised her eyes up from the floor and connected them with Nathan's again. However, any resolve she'd previously had to remain tough was completely knocked from her when she saw the wild look in his eyes. She'd never seen him like this before. Sure, he'd been angry with her and they'd argued plenty of times but the look that was currently in his eyes combined with the stance of his body had taken that anger up to ferocious levels, levels which she didn't even know that he had inside of himself and she didn't know what the hell she was supposed to do.

Nathan's fists were trembling with the rage that he was trying so desperately to hold inside of himself. He knew he shouldn't lose his temper with her but he didn't know what else to do. He'd tried talking to her reasonably about his concerns yesterday and that effort had blown up in his face entirely, as had this morning's effort also, so to him there was no other option. He was going to make damn sure that she listened to him this time though, whether she wanted to hear what he had to say or not. "Well Hales?" He pushed, not liking the fact that she wasn't giving him answers at the moment. He was silent for another thirty seconds or so, and Haley still hadn't made a sound, save for her shaky breaths which he could hear coming from her mouth. "Or do you want me to give you my take on this fucking ridiculous situation?"

Haley gulped audibly as she decided to try to calm her nerves by playing with her shaking fingers. She wanted to tell him about the marathon, she wanted to tell him about the achievements she had been making, and how good she felt when she reached the goals that Ryan had set for her. But she knew that she needed to build up to the point where she revealed that secret, she knew that if she told Nathan about it now he'd go even more ballistic at her and quite frankly his current reaction to the revelation that she had only been using the gym was enough to scare her into not ever wanting him to find out about the marathon, because Lord only knew how he would react to that piece of news.

"Fine. We'll do this my way then, seeing as you're not even bothering to give me an explanation." Nathan said through gritted teeth. He took a deep breath, giving himself one last chance to calm down a little but he knew it was done in vain because now that he had started he had no chance in hell of toning anything down. "What the fuck are you playing at Haley? How can you stand there after everything that happened not even a year ago and think that you need to go and join a gym for crying out loud?"

Haley licked her too dry lips, he body shaking with the volume of his voice as she raised her eyes back up to meet Nathan's glare and she realized in that instant that it was absolutely pointless of her to talk to him when he was this angry. She grabbed her gym bag and dragged it along the floor as she walked past him and moved towards her bedroom.

"Where the hell are you going?" Nathan roared after her as he began to follow her down the hallway, wondering why she suddenly felt like she could just walk away from him without so much of a word of explanation. "If you think I'm just going to sit back and let this one go, Hales, then I'm afraid you're very much mistaken."

Haley sighed as she reached her door. "There's absolutely no point in me talking to you while you're like this, Nathan, so go and calm down, I'll talk to you later." She said as rationally as she could, given how angry he was at her. She opened up her door and then closed it behind her, hoping that Nathan would realize that she was doing the right thing by deferring their discussion. She hoped he wouldn't be so insistent as to demand that they do this right this very second, because she knew that it wouldn't end well at all and she willed Nathan to know that while in his eyes she may be wrong about the whole gym thing, she was at least right about the fact that they shouldn't talk about this now.

Nathan sighed heavily as he came face to face with her door. The protective side of him wanted to bash it down and yell at her for being so stupid and reckless with herself but the more placid side of him told him that she was right. He'd only end up screaming and yelling at her which would do both of them no good at all. With his mind made up, and hating the fact that he was siding with Haley on this one, he walked away from her room and headed to the lounge, hoping that a couple of games on his X Box would help distract him for a while, and also help to calm himself down.

Haley leaned against the wood of her door and breathed a sigh of relief to herself as she heard Nathan walk away from her room. She pushed herself away from the door and walked over to her bed, noticing that she had left her phone on her bedside table while she had been at the gym. She picked it up and saw that she had a text message from Lucas. She opened it up and sighed as she read the message before she flopped down onto her bed. As if she didn't have enough things to worry about at the moment…

Two hours later, Nathan was scowling at the television. It seemed his current state of worry and fury over Haley was not helping in his quest to win car racing games on his X Box. He had the tip of his tongue sticking out of the corner of his mouth as he tried so very hard to concentrate on winning the damn race that he hadn't been able to get past in the last hour, when he noticed Haley rush past the door to the lounge. He averted his eyes from the screen for just a second, and when he glanced back at the TV, he saw that he had just slipped from second to fourth place. "Fuck!" He yelled as he threw the controller down on the sofa beside him, ending the game before he lost it again for what felt like the thousandth time. He leaned his elbows on his knees and ran both of his hands through his hair as he took a couple of breaths to help calm himself down a little, before he lifted himself up from the sofa and went in search of Haley who he presumed had gone into the kitchen, deciding that he'd be able to win the damn race if he could only get it through to Haley that the gym was simply not an option for her. She didn't need to go and that was the end of that as far as he was concerned. He just hoped she'd actually listen to him.

Haley had just finished pouring herself a glass of water and she was standing at the sink as she gulped down her drink. She swallowed her last mouthful as she heard Nathan enter the room and she then placed the glass down on the countertop beside her as she turned around and then folded her arms across her chest, waiting for him to begin whatever the hell it was he felt he needed to say to her. She eyed him cautiously as she waited and she watched as he leaned against the doorframe, obviously struggling to articulate what it was he wanted to say.

Nathan sighed heavily, not wanting this animosity he could feel in the air surrounding them to continue to cloud them both but he knew they wouldn't come to any sort of compromise until they both voiced their sides of the argument. And in all honesty, he hoped that by the time he had finished with her, she would come to realize that he was right and that she didn't need to use the gym; he hoped with all his might that he wouldn't have to compromise an ounce of what he wanted to gain from this discussion, despite how stubborn he knew Haley could be when she wanted to be. "You know, I'm just struggling to grasp my head around how you think this is necessary," he started, before realizing that he didn't want to begin these discussions with the force of their previous attempts, so he decided to add on his nickname for her, hoping it would soften her a little, "Gorgeous."

Haley lowered her gaze as Nathan began to talk to her but when she heard him call her 'gorgeous' she snapped her eyes back to his and her harsh glare soften just a tad. She took a deep breath as she clung onto her arms tightly, knowing that this conversation wouldn't be easy, because she knew Nathan had countless amounts of ammunition to use against her and she just didn't know how far he was going to go, which was leaving her feeling incredibly wary. "Nathan it isn't what you think, okay?" She said cryptically, hoping that he would understand what she meant when she said that, even though it was probably impossible for him to do so.

"Believe me Haley; you don't want to know what's going through my head right now." Nathan responded irritably. He couldn't seem to grasp how she could be so flippant about all of this when he was having, quite honestly, incredibly frightening thoughts of seeing her laying in that bed in that dingy hospital room; it just didn't sit right with him at all and the fact that she was acting so nonchalant about this whole situation only increased his aggravation towards her. "I mean really, Haley; do you not remember what happened? Or do you want me to give you a quick reminder?"

Any softness that Haley felt towards Nathan completely melted away as she listened to his words and her walls came back up, guarding herself from further attack. She shook her head at him incredulously. "What do you think, Nathan?" She shouted back to him. "Do you not think that I remember? Do you honestly think that I've just forgotten about everything that happened?"

"Well I honestly wouldn't know, Haley. All I can do is judge you on how you're behaving and I'm sorry to say that all the current evidence points to exactly that!" Nathan yelled back at her as he straightened up his posture in an effort to somehow become more domineering and powerful than he had been when he was leaning against the door. "It seems to me that you're doing exactly that, you're forgetting about what happened to you, it's the only explanation I can come up with which sits right in the ridiculousness that is this situation!"

Haley glared at Nathan as she released the grip she had on her arms and allowed them to fall to her sides. "So that's what you think? You just think that I've forgotten?" She screamed back at him.

"Yes, Haley, I do think that. Well, either that or you're just incredibly fucking stupid." Nathan roared back at her.

Haley clenched her now trembling hands into fists as she fought with the temptation to go completely crazy on him. She couldn't believe he had the audacity to believe that she had forgotten what had happened to her. As if she ever could forget. She was running on pure adrenaline now, and she knew that she shouldn't say what was about to come out of her mouth, she knew that it would get her absolutely nowhere but she couldn't seem to stop the words from forming on her tongue, and before she realised how damaging her words would be, it was too late for her to stop. "Like you can talk." She said, her words laced with all the venom and spite she had intended them to have.

"And what the hell is that supposed to mean?" Nathan spat back to her in an incredibly dangerous tone of voice. He knew, of course, exactly what she was referring to, and after the conversation he'd had with his brother earlier on today, he shouldn't be surprised at the coincidence that Haley was bringing this up only hours later. He glowered at her, his head cocked to the side slightly as he dared her to say any more, because both he and she knew that what would follow if she said anything else on the subject would be incredibly ugly.

Haley took a deep breath and she wondered briefly to herself if she really wanted to go down this path. She could practically feel the anticipation pouring from Nathan as he laid in wait for her to say something. He was taunting her with that vicious look of his and as she contemplated whether she wanted to say anything else on the subject matter but she knew that if she didn't, then they would simply be arguing about her and the gym. So in fact, it was a lose-lose situation for her, and she'd rather palm the spotlight off herself for a change and shine it right on Nathan, despite how selfish that made her. "You know very well what I'm talking about, Nathan." She returned, choosing her words very carefully. "How you think that you can stand there and scream at me while you tell me that I've forgotten about what's happened to me, when you've not even attempted to deal with your own personal demons, is quite frankly laughable."

Nathan breathed in deeply, feeling that familiar clenching of his heart whenever someone talked about that situation, the one he never wanted to discuss with anybody. The fact that it had been brought up twice now in the space of a few hours was completely unexpected and he wasn't too sure how to deal with the underlying emotions he felt coursing through his body. But he didn't really need to comprehend that at the moment because all the anger he felt towards Haley increased tenfold with those words and was currently overtaking every single cell of his body. He couldn't actually believe that she'd had the guts to bring it up. If it were anything else, he would have been incredibly proud of her skill at forming a distracting argument away from what he wanted to discuss with her, but the fact that she had voiced what she knew was an incredibly difficult subject matter for him, at a time when he was already in a charged emotional state was completely unacceptable to him. "Watch it, Haley." He seethed at her, surprising himself with the danger that laced its way around his words.

Haley faltered only slightly when she heard just how serious Nathan sounded. She knew that she was pushing him and she saw the flash of pain in his eyes which made her feel absolutely horrible. She lowered her eyes away from him, hating the fact that she made him feel like that and backed off completely. She suppressed the ugly emotion which was running through her veins, not ever wanting to make him look like that again. She knew the whole Lily situation needed discussing but she also knew, deep down, that now was not the time. She looked back up at him, meeting his fuming gaze. "You know what Nathan, I'm sorry I bought that up. I know how hard it is for you to talk about that. I only wish that you would grant me the same consideration." She said remorsefully as she shook her head and walked back to her room. Clearly they were not over this debate yet but she also didn't want to continue their heated discussions because she knew they would only end up saying things they would later regret.

~*~

The following week had been hostile to say the least. Haley woke every morning to find that Nathan had already left for work and he came home in the evenings long after she had gone to bed. So she hadn't actually seen him or even spoken to him since their discussion, or was it an argument, in the kitchen on Sunday evening. He hadn't shown up at the bar on Friday, which to be honest Haley wasn't at all surprised about but she would have at least thought that he would ring and let any one of them know that he had no intention of coming. If it weren't for his dirty clothes which she found in the washing basket in the bathroom each morning, she wouldn't actually have known that he was even using the apartment.

It was Saturday morning and Haley had wandered through the apartment, noticing that Nathan was nowhere to be found, grabbed herself a bottle of water from the fridge and she was now waiting on the front steps of the apartment building for Ryan to show up. They hadn't run outside since last Saturday and the disaster that was her not quite making the hour mark, but all week she had been building herself up for this moment, and she knew that she was going to do it today. She was going to make sure that she did this today. She wouldn't stop running until she had run for an hour straight.

"Okay Haley, you ready for this today?" Ryan said as he jogged over to her, smiling wildly at the sight of her jumping up and down on the spot to keep warm. At the gym this week, Haley had been incredibly quiet, but he could see the determination in her eyes which had been building and building, and yesterday evening it had been burning so brightly that he had no doubt whatsoever that she was going to do this today.

Haley turned around and ran down the steps until she was on the sidewalk and smiled back at Ryan. "I'm ready." She said and then began to walk them in the direction of Central Park. She was too busy giving herself a mental pep talk and she was pleased that Ryan seemed to acknowledge this fact because he simply fell into his stride beside her and didn't say a word to her the whole way there.

An hour and a few minutes later, Haley could once again feel the burn in her legs, much like she had done last week, but she was unwavering in her goal for today and she most certainly was not going to let her legs beat her. She was going to do this. The stitch she had inside her lungs was so painful she felt like she was going to pass out at any given second. However, she looked down at the watch she had on and saw that she only had two more minutes to go and she smiled to herself. She glanced over at Ryan who was jogging beside her and she saw him grinning wildly at her, and the fact that the look on his face showed that he believed she could run the extra two minutes, despite the fact that her body was screaming out in agony for her to stop, spurred her on and she actually ran ahead of him.

Ryan laughed as he allowed Haley to sprint ahead of him, pleased to see her as excited as she was about reaching that hour mark. He jogged after her, keeping the pace they had originally set, when he heard his watch beep at him, indicating that they had run the full hour. He turned off the alarm and glanced over at Haley who was jumping up and down on the path in front of him, a look of complete euphoria on her face, she looked like she'd won the lottery or something. He felt incredibly proud of her, especially after the struggle she'd been through last week. He then picked up his jog again and headed over to where she was jumping around, wanting to tell her how pleased her was for her, how proud he was of her for doing what she had. It really was such a big step.

Any energy Haley felt that she had lost from running for such a long time was quickly replaced as a feeling of great achievement rushed through her veins, reinvigorating her. "Yes!" She said to herself as she jumped around like a madwoman, before glancing over at Ryan who was now jogging steadily over to her. She broke out into a run towards him, wanting to share her celebration with him also. "I did it Ryan, I did it!" She called to him as she continued to race towards him, and once she was in front of him she jumped onto him, wrapping her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist, enveloping him in a full on Haley hug.

Ryan was slightly taken aback by Haley jumping on him, and he very nearly lost his footing, but he managed to steady himself and he wrapped his own arms around Haley's back, supporting her weight so that she wouldn't slide right off him. He smiled, feeling incredibly serene at having her in his arms. He held her close to him, hearing her squeal with delight at what she had achieved and he twisted his head slightly as he tried to pull away from her slightly so that he could see her face, only his senses were assaulted with the smell of her shampoo, which he found incredibly appealing. He quickly shook his head of his temporary trance and continued to pull himself away from her, not being able to stop the beaming smile that spread across his face when he saw just how pleased she was with herself. "I am so proud of you, Haley! Well done!" He said to her, feeling incredibly glad that he was able to share this moment with her.

Haley smiled widely back at him as she continued to cling to his neck. "I just can't believe that I did it, I can't believe I just ran non-stop for a full hour!" She said in a wondrous voice. She looked away from Ryan for a second, still bewildered by what she had achieved, before she returned her eyes back to meet his gaze. She was so excited she couldn't help but squeal again as she kicked her legs with all the adrenaline she felt continuing to pump through her body.

Ryan laughed at her behaviour; she was acting like an incredibly carefree child which was nice for him to see. "So how do you feel? Are you hurting yet?" He asked with a raised eyebrow and a smile on his own face which probably matched the intensity of Haley's.

Haley whacked him on the arm. "Hey, I'll have you know that I feel great! Nothing hurts; I actually think I'm buzzing!" She responded.

"Well just you wait, give it a couple of hours and you'll barely be able to walk!" Ryan teased as that glint in his eye shone at her.

"Unlike some people, I warmed up, so I think you'll find that the only legs which will be hurting will be yours!" Haley said as she jabbed him in the chest with her finger and then sighed happily to herself before she began to untangle herself from around his body. She felt his grip on her back loosen so that she could stand up again and then she began to walk towards the exit of the park, smiling at Ryan as he stepped along beside her as they made their way back to the apartment so that he could drop her off.

Ryan didn't really want to let her go. If he had it his way, he'd have kept her in his arms for the rest of the afternoon. But he knew that things weren't that way between them at the moment, and the fact that Haley had leaped into his arms was merely a reaction to how happy she was. He wasn't upset about it, far from it, in fact he felt incredibly grateful that he had been the one to be with her when she achieved this. However, he couldn't deny that he wanted more. Haley was one of the most interesting, feisty, beautiful women he'd ever had the pleasure of meeting. He often found himself wondering what it would be like to be her boyfriend, but he was slightly unsure of what she thought was going on between them. Did she enjoy their training sessions as much as he did? Did she count him as a friend or was he merely the man who was helping her reach a goal? He decided that he was going to make it his mission to find out the answers to those questions in the coming weeks. He stepped away from Haley slightly and brought his thoughts back to the present. "Well if you need a massage, I'm qualified." He said, brining their banter which he so very much enjoyed back into play.

Haley blushed slightly and then turned to him, raising an accusatory eyebrow at him. "I bet that was the first thing you learnt to do when you decided you wanted to be a personal trainer, right?" She asked with a cheeky smile.

Ryan laughed at her and shrugged his shoulders at her remark. "What can I say, Haley, you obviously know me too well." He responded and then smiled back at her.

Haley lowered her gaze to the floor and continued to walk out of the park and down the street which lead them to her apartment. She was still basking in her achievement and was enjoying the peace and quiet as she wrapped her head around the fact that after last week's debacle, she had finally done it, she had run for an hour. She knew that there was a hell of a lot more training which she would need to do if she was going to be able to run a full marathon, but she actually didn't think it would be a complete impossibility now. She turned to face Ryan as they continued to walk towards her home. "Thank you, Ryan." She said, her voice full of meaning. "I really owe all of this to you."

Ryan turned to face her and shook his head at her. "What are you going on about, Haley? The only person who did all of what you did today was yourself. You put in all the hours of training, you were the one who moved her legs and got yourself around the park, not me. I can't tell you honestly how pleased I am for you that you did it, you were amazing today." He said, hoping that she would recognise just how wonderfully she had done.

"I know that but if you hadn't pushed me to even enter the marathon in the first place, well I wouldn't have done any of it, and if you hadn't agreed to help me train I'd still not be able to run ten minutes on those stupid treadmills, would I?" Haley asked and watched as Ryan chuckled at her.

"You really don't like those treadmills, do you?" Ryan said through his laughter.

Haley smiled at him. "You know I don't, I just don't understand why anyone would use them, and they're so boring compared to going for a run in the park!" She returned.

"I know they are." Ryan responded as he rolled his eyes playfully at her.

Haley shook her head at him and continued walking beside him in silence while she contemplated her next words, wondering if she really wanted to say them to him. She bit down on her lip as she deliberated with herself, before coming to the conclusion that she did want to say them, because they were true. "I'm really glad we're doing this together, Ryan." She said and then stopped in front of the building which her apartment was in. "You've been nothing but wonderful with me, and I'm so pleased that you're becoming a really good friend to me."

Ryan smiled back at her, feeling incredibly elated that she had said that they were becoming friends. Although it wasn't quite what he wanted to be with her, it was a step up from personal trainer and for that he was nothing but grateful. "So am I, Haley." He returned. "So you ready for another go on Monday?"

"I am." Haley returned. "Are we going to go for another hour again?"

"I think so. Shall I swing by and pick you up at half past six?" Ryan asked.

"Sure you can." Haley returned and then she smiled at him. She knew that Nathan would be out of the apartment by then anyway, so there was no harm in him knowing which apartment number she lived at, and besides, it was freezing out here while she waited for him so it would save he from having to do that. "Just buzz when you're outside. It's number 604."

"Okay Haley, I'll see you Monday morning then." Ryan responded.

"Yeah I'll see you Monday." Haley said and then threw her arms around his neck again so that she could give him another hug and she then pulled away quickly. "Thanks again, Ryan."

"No problem, Haley." Ryan returned with a smile and then turned around so that he could walk to the gym and begin his shift for the day, feeling happier than he could remember in a long time.

~*~

Haley skipped along the hallway towards the front door to the apartment; practically floating on air she was that happy with herself. However, it wasn't until she was confronted with the front door to the apartment that all of the energy that had been coursing through her veins suddenly left her body, leaving her feeling heavy and full of foreboding. She sighed heavily as she reached into the pocket of her shorts and pulled out her key. She opened the door and precariously looked from left to right, checking to see if the coast was clear of Nathan before remembering that she didn't need to sneak around anymore because Nathan knew all about the gym. She shook her head at herself for being so forgetful, after all, the gym was the whole reason behind her and Nathan not having said even a word to each other for nearly 6 days now.

Haley walked along the hallway and passed the study on the way, seeing that the door was firmly shut, and given that it had been open when she had left the apartment, the closed door meant that Nathan was obviously busy working away behind it. She sighed as she passed the door, usually he left it at least a little bit open but today the door was most definitely closed, which meant that no cease fire had been reached between the two of them yet. She continued to walk along the hallway towards the bathroom, wanting to jump under the shower and change out of her disgusting workout clothes before she thought of what she could do to try to sort this mess out between herself and Nathan, which was currently hanging around the apartment like a vile smell you just couldn't seem to get rid of.

Half an hour later, Haley had showered, dried her hair and changed into a pair of jeans and a white cotton top with some lace around the hem. She still hadn't come up with an idea as to how she could get herself and Nathan talking to each other and she hated the fact that this was still hanging over them, especially after all she had achieved today. She should be in a good mood, not worrying about her relationship with her best friend. She reached the door to the study and contemplated knocking on it but she didn't know if she would be disturbing the beast, thus causing even more animosity to be thrown her way. So instead she decided to leave it be and wait for him to finish working because in all honesty she didn't want things to get any worse between them than they already were.

She still felt incredibly guilty at brining up Lily, especially given the circumstances she had used it in, it was completely wrong of her to do so, and despite how much she knew she needed to help Nathan finally overcome his issues, she had begun her cause in entirely the wrong way. She knew deep down that was also why she didn't just burst through the door, because a simply apology to Nathan wouldn't make her feel any better, she wanted to do something a little bit more for him to show him just how sorry she was. So she walked away from the study, sat herself down in the lounge and eventually, after much deliberation, came up with an incredibly brilliant idea.

Nathan had heard Haley walk up to the door but had chosen to ignore her. He felt slightly relieved when she walked away, because although he knew this feud couldn't continue for much longer, he wasn't quite sure what he needed to say to end it. And given that she hadn't knocked on the door, it seemed that Haley was unsure too. So he simply sighed to himself and lost himself in his work for the next couple of hours.

Four hours later, Nathan's stomach was rumbling. He glanced up at the clock hanging on the wall in the study and could see that it was two thirty in the afternoon. He pushed his chair away from the desk and ran his hands over his face, trying to wake himself up a little. He then stood up and walked towards the door, unsure of what Haley would be doing given that he hadn't heard a peep from her since she had walked up to the door earlier on that morning. He then opened the door, ready to head into the kitchen to find some food when something caught his eye on the floor in front of him. He lowered his gaze and couldn't help the smile that broke out on his face at what he saw. There, on the floor, were eight cupcakes with letters on each of them spelling out 'I'm sorry' on the top of them. He leaned down and picked up the plate which they were sitting on and carried it back into the study, sitting himself down on the chair as he bit into one of the heavenly cakes, unable to hold back the groan of pleasure which escaped from his mouth as he savoured the taste, really appreciating what Haley had done for him. He then fired up the sleeping computer and began a desperate search for tickets, wanting to offer Haley his side of the olive branch that she had offered him in baking these amazing cakes.

Haley was hauled away in her room, laying on her bed listening to her iPod. She was so bored; after all the exertion she had used that morning in her running and the high she had felt once she had done the unthinkable and ran for an hour had faded, she was left feeling rather sluggish. She rolled over and noticed that her phone was flashing at her, so she reached over and lit up the screen, seeing that she had received a text message. She furrowed her brow when she opened her inbox and saw that the message was from Nathan but opened it up anyway and read it.

_Be ready at 6.30. Wear a dress; I have a surprise for you. Thanks for the cupcakes gorgeous, they're delicious x_

She smiled at the message, the relief that he had accepted her apology washing over her and leaving her feeling much lighter and happier than she had been all week. The smile that was currently plastered on her face was probably even bigger than the one she'd had on her face once she achieved that milestone this morning. She jumped off her bed and glanced at the clock, seeing that it was three thirty, which gave her three hours to get ready. She pondered briefly at what he could have planned for them both but decided not to second-guess him, instead leaving it as a surprise; it would be far more fun that way. She then decided that she was going to go and have a relaxing bath to whittle away some time, and then spend the remaining time getting herself ready for what she knew would be a wonderful evening with her best friend. She was so pleased that they were finally, after six days of complete silence, getting back to normal with each other. She had missed him desperately and was more than happy that she had made the first move to reconcile this situation with him. She wrapped her arms around herself as she walked towards the bathroom in complete contentment that she had her best friend back. After all, what more could she possibly ask for?

At six twenty-five, Nathan was fiddling with his tie in the mirror in the hallway. He didn't know why he was so nervous about tonight, after all it was just Haley, but he really wanted to let her know how sorry he was about the fact that they hadn't been talking all week and that he completely acknowledged the fact that he had stepped over that invisible line they had drawn in their relationship, speaking of things that he knew he shouldn't have. He knew the topic of conversation needed discussion, he knew he needed to talk to her properly about it but he was worried that he had spoilt any chance at doing so because each time he had bought her eating habits up recently, it had been at a moment of anger. He sighed in frustration at himself as he unknotted the tie and started to knot it up again, when he heard Haley step out of her bedroom and walk along the corridor towards him.

Haley straightened out her dress as she walked along the corridor, hoping that she wasn't too overdressed in what she had chosen to wear. It was ridiculous, she told herself, how nervous she was getting, she was simply heading out for a night with her best friend. But however much she knew this was his part of the apology for their feud, she was one hundred percent certain that like her, the issues he had with her, the very issues which had caused this silent war between them, were not settled at all. So she was nervous about the pending conversations she knew were coming. She walked along the corridor towards the front door and told herself to stop worrying and just enjoy tonight, for tonight she was spending time in the company of the one person who meant the world to her.

Nathan stopped messing with his tie when he saw Haley walk around the corner to where he was currently standing. He was completely mesmerized by the dress that she had on. In fact, it wasn't actually the dress that she was wearing, it was her. She was actually glowing and she looked absolutely stunning. He ran his eyes up from the floor, taking in the black high heels they had argued about so many times, which accentuated the length and curve of her shapely legs. Just above her knee, the simple black dress she had on began and flowed over her body incredibly beautifully. The dress had a deep 'v' shape which followed her cleavage and as his eyes travelled up to her face, he saw that her hair was swept away from her face and tied up in some sort of twist, showing of her incredible features to perfection. His hands were still clutching his tie which he hadn't done up because he was momentarily stunned by how phenomenal she looked. "Hales, you look absolutely stunning." He said as he gulped, realising that he was staring incredibly inappropriately at his best friend. He tried to shake the thoughts from his head but in that moment he was so enthralled by her beauty, he simply couldn't stop thinking about her in that way. Was that supposed to happen? He could think that she looked gorgeous and tell her so, couldn't he? He shook his head at himself, finding that the lines of their relationship were becoming increasingly blurry since this whole sex thing between them had begun.

Haley blushed and looked away from him for a second as she continued to walk towards him, seeing that he was struggling with his tie. He was dressed in a dark grey suit and had a pale blue shirt on which made his eyes shine in that gorgeous blue colour they were. She ran her eyes quickly over his body, appreciating the tailored trousers and jacket he had on, able to see his strong arms emphasised slightly through the material. She breathed in deeply as she stood in front of him and found that she was assaulted with the smell of his aftershave which she found incredibly sexy. She raised her eyes and peeked up at him from underneath her eyelashes as she reached up and took the tie he was still holding out of his grasp, watching as his arms fell limply to his sides. She saw him looking down at her with an incredible intensity which made her breath catch in her throat. She then lowered her eyes and concentrated on his tie, unsure of the weird air and tension which was now surrounding them both.

Nathan held his breath as he watched Haley's eyes move away from his and concentrate on his tie. He then released it slowly before breathing in deeply, finding himself incredibly caught up in her, smelling her beautiful perfume, unsure of what the hell was happening to him. Maybe it was the fact that this was the first time he had seen her in six days, maybe that was what it was, but deep down he knew that this pull that he felt towards her in that second was much more than that. He watched as she tied his tie up perfectly, sucking in a sharp breath when her tongue pocked out from between her lips and licked them, before she bit down on her lip in that Haley way. Why had he suddenly become so turned on over the fact that she bit her lip? He didn't understand why he was feeling like this because that was something which Haley had done since the first day they had become friends, it was nothing new. Only to Nathan, everything suddenly felt new, but also familiar at the same time. He felt Haley tighten his tie and then she leaned up towards him and reached around his neck. He lowered his head and was met with Haley's beautiful face which was suddenly right in front of him. He held his breath as he fought with the desire to wrap his own arms around her and pull her into his body…

Haley felt completely trapped by the intensity of his gaze. She couldn't find the strength inside of herself to tear her eyes away from him; she was just as enthralled and confused over this strange air that was twisting it's way around them both as he seemed to be. Her breathing was incredibly deep, as was Nathan's and her heart was thudding so forcefully in her chest she was sure that he could hear it. Time seemed to completely slow and all Haley could focus on was the powerful urge she felt deep inside of herself to close the gap between them, to wrap her arms together behind his neck, to… All of a sudden the buzzer broke through her Nathan induced haze and snapped her right out of her strange daydreams, if that was even the right word for what had just transpired.

Nathan cleared his throat, breaking himself from the trance he seemed to be trapped in. "That'll be the car I ordered." He said quietly, unsure of whether he should feel relieved that the driver had interrupted them or incredibly pissed off.

Haley nodded her head and lowered Nathan's collar around the tie and then straightened it out. She felt rather foolish really, given the thoughts that had just been going through her head. She didn't quite understand why she had been thinking like that but clearly it had just been a complete moment of madness on her part. She patted Nathan on the chest once she was happy with the tie. "There, it's perfect." She said and then took a step back from him.

Nathan closed his eyes for a brief second, collecting his thoughts before he opened his eyes and smiled down at Haley. "Come on, gorgeous, let's go." He said, wanting to steer himself back onto his primary focus for the evening, which was ensuring that his best friend had the most fabulous evening he could possibly give her.

~*~

Just under an hour later, Haley found herself seated in a box at the Majestic theatre after having travelled there in ultimate style in a limousine. She couldn't quite believe that she was seated in these seats and she knew without a doubt that the whole night must have cost Nathan an extortionate amount of money. She looked around the theatre, taking in its grandness and felt incredibly guilty that all she had done to say sorry was bake some cupcakes. Somehow, this pretty much surpassed her efforts completely. She sighed as she rested her eyes on Nathan, the entire theatre abuzz as people anxiously waited for the show to begin. "Nathan, you really didn't have to..." She started, and then found that she was silenced by Nathan's finger coming up to rest on her lips.

Nathan rested his finger over her lips and smiled at her, pleased that she had stopped talking. "I did this, Hales, because I wanted to do something special for you. I've been acting like a complete shit this last week and I missed you. A lot. So please don't go on about how much it cost or whatever else is running through your head because the cost of this evening is completely irrelevant. I just wanted to do something nice for you. Please don't spoil that." He said, hoping that she would actually listen to him and not rant and rave at the expense of it all. He then lowered his finger from his lips and rested his hands in his lap, turning his attention to the stage because the lights had started to dim in the theatre.

Haley was surprised at the tingly sensation she felt on her lips from where Nathan's finger had been when he removed it. She ran her tongue briefly over her lips and continued to look at Nathan, but he appeared to be distracted by the stage. She noticed that the lights were beginning to fade, indicating that the start of Phantom of the Opera was imminent. She twisted herself around in her chair and looked at the stage, reached her hand over into Nathan's lap and grasping onto his hand. She squeezed it once her hand was placed in his and felt Nathan's face turn to face her again and she met his gaze. "I missed you too." She said quietly and then smiled softly at him, before the music began to play so she turned herself back and began to watch the best show in the world, in the best seats, with her best friend beside her.

All throughout the performance, Nathan hadn't taken his eyes off Haley. She was far more enchanting that what was happening on the stage, he was sure of it. He watched as her facial expressions changed with the beautiful music which was surrounding them and completely relished in the fact that her hand was still very much enclosed in his. She looked completely enthralled with the performance and he found himself getting completely lost in her. Throughout the interval, he was so incredibly relieved that she had continued to leave her hand in his lap and they had sat there in complete comfortable silence with each other. He found himself absentmindedly tracing small circles at the base of her thumb with his own, taking absolute pleasure in the feel of her skin underneath his fingers.

The music had finished and the theatre had gone completely black. Everyone in the theatre was rising to their feet to clap in appreciation of the show and regrettably, Haley found that she and Nathan were also rising to their feet to join in with the applause. She hesitantly removed her hand from Nathan's, not quite wanting to break any contact with him because it had been nice, holding his hand throughout that performance; she had felt incredibly happy that they were able to do that. The thought had crossed her mind that for tonight at least, they looked like an actual couple and that thought left her feeling all warm and fuzzy inside. She instantly felt the loss of Nathan's hand when she eased her way out of his grasp and quickly glanced over at him before she began clapping to see if he had a similar feeling too, to see if anything crossed his features to show it, but she couldn't see anything flash across his face. She shook her head at herself for thinking something so stupid. They were simply best friends and she was being extremely silly, holding his hand didn't mean anything.

As the second and third round of applause finished and the theatre began to empty, Nathan turned to Haley and smiled at her. "You ready?" He asked.

Haley nodded her head as she bent down to retrieve her handbag and watched as Nathan put his suit jacket back on which he had placed on one of the chairs next to the ones they were using.

Nathan stood out of the way so that Haley could squeeze past and begin to lead them out of their box. He had half a mind to just grab onto her hand again because in all honesty, he missed having that connection with her. But he simply told himself that the moment had passed and as her best friend, he had no reason to think of tonight as a date, and thus he had no reason to be holding her hand at all. He was simply apologising to Haley by treating her to a night out at the theatre. He trailed behind her as she walked down the stairs, desperately wanting to touch her in some way, maybe his hand on the small of her back, his hand wrapped around her shoulder perhaps? However, he did nothing about his cravings to touch her, instead he dutifully followed her outside and noticed that she walked to the curb, presumably because she thought they were going to be heading home, however, he had other plans. "Gorgeous?" He called to her as he stood in the middle of the sidewalk. She turned around to face him and he jerked his head to the left, indicating that they were going that way. "I thought we'd go somewhere nice for dinner."

Haley furrowed her brow at Nathan before he began to walk them to where he was obviously planning on taking her for dinner. She didn't really want him to spend any more money on her and she was about to protest but then she saw Nathan shake his head at her, knowing exactly what she was planning on doing. She sighed in defeat and then fell into step beside him.

Nathan's hands were once again itching to grab onto Haley's as they walked along the bustling sidewalk so he had stuffed them in his pockets, preventing them from crawling over to her accidentally. He also made sure that he kept some distance between them, because he felt safer almost that way, like he was removing himself out of temptations way. After walking for five minutes, he stopped in front of one of the fancy restaurants the company he worked for used to entertain their clients. The food was delicious, although a little bit expensive but he knew that Haley would love it and so when he had been deciding to book a table for this evening earlier on in his study, this was one of the first places that had popped into his head.

Haley couldn't help but glare at the waitress who was practically drooling over Nathan. She could see that he was doing his best to ignore the way she was flirting with him, the way she 'accidentally' brushed her hand over his arm, or the way she was twirling her hair around her finger but still, Haley found herself getting decisively annoyed at the whole display which was playing out in front of her. She was mildly annoyed at the fact that, for all this girl knew, she was out of a date with Nathan and she was still acting that way, it was really frustrating her. After all, they were seated in a posh restaurant, dressed up nicely, what other conclusion was there to reach? But then that horrible voice whispered nastily in the back of head to her, telling her that the girl didn't think they were on a date because they couldn't be, Nathan was Nathan, and she was Haley; boys like Nathan never went for girls like her, did they?

What Nathan had been hoping would be a really wonderful meal was quickly turning into a complete disaster as far as he was concerned. The damn waitress wouldn't stop flirting with him, no matter how short his answers to her ridiculous questions were and Haley had completely withdrawn into herself, barely speaking a word to him. There was a part of him that wanted to try to talk amicably about the whole gym situation, in neutral and public territory so that neither of them could get as angry or bitter as they had done on the previous attempt at talking about it, but when Haley was acting like this, he knew that now was not the time for those kinds of discussions.

Haley watched as the waitress cleared their plates, holding what looked like far too many in her hands in an effort to impress Nathan no doubt with her balancing skills, or whatever the hell she was doing. Haley's mouth curled up in complete distaste as the waitress asked if they needed anything else, in that flirtatious voice of hers. She watched as Nathan looked over to her and he obviously could see how fed up she was, and so he had told her that they were fine for the moment. Of course, seeing this as her opportunity to partake in yet another round of flirting, the waitress had fed Nathan quite possibly the cheesiest line ever. "Well let me know if you need… anything." She had breathed at him; placing enough emphasis on the 'anything' part that even a newborn baby could understand her meaning. Urgh.

Nathan rolled his eyes as the waitress turned and swayed her hips as she walked away from him and he picked up his glass of wine, taking a sip of it before lowering his glass back to the table. He watched Haley as she scowled at the waitress and he frowned as he wondered why she was giving her such an evil look. She was muttering something underneath her breath with sounded suspiciously like 'bitch' but he thought he mustn't be hearing her right. He was then completely distracted as there was an almighty noise and he saw Haley biting her lip in an effort to hide her giggles. He turned and saw that the waitress had obviously tripped over something because the plates had now smashed onto the floor and she was sprawled out among all the carnage. He turned back to Haley and could see that she was now giggling uncontrollably, which caused him to begin to laugh along with her too, glad that she was smiling about something at last. When he had calmed down a little, he sighed and turned his attention back to Haley. "Do you want any dessert?" He asked and watched as she shook her head at him, still trying desperately to stifle her laughter. "Well let's get out of here then."

Once Nathan had gone to pay for the meal and returned to her, Haley followed him out of the restaurant and noticed that there was a limousine parked right outside. She sighed as Nathan greeted the driver and he then stopped by the door, waiting for Haley to climb in first. "You know a taxi would have been fine, Nathan." She said as she climbed inside.

Nathan smiled at her as he slid onto the seat beside her and then heard the driver close the door behind him. "I know a taxi would have been fine, but you look so beautiful tonight I thought we'd end the night in style too." He said smiling over at her but he then frowned as he noticed that she had resumed her nervous stance; her hands were in her lap and she was fiddling with them, and she was also biting down on her lip. He sighed, spotting all the obvious signs of her nervousness or discomfort. "Gorgeous?"

Haley honestly didn't know why she was acting like this. She shook her head at herself, wondering if it was exhaustion from running for so long this morning finally catching up with her, wondering whether it was just so overwhelming spending time with Nathan now when their week had been full of animosity and angst, or whether she was simply just a stupid, insecure girl who had some serious problems and needed to sort herself out. Either way though, the reasons for her current state of upset didn't really matter. She could hear the worry etch its way into Nathan's voice and that simply made her feel even more ashamed at the way she was feeling because the last thing she wanted to do was to spoil this fabulous evening with her damn insecurities. She could feel the tears begin to prickle in her eyes and that only caused her to berate herself even further.

Nathan twisted himself around in his seat, the worry for Haley growing exponentially with each silent second that passed. "Gorgeous, please tell me what's wrong?" He asked softly as he lifted his hand until he was touching her chin and then raised her head so that he could look her in the eye, in the hope that he would be able to see what the matter with her was. However, as his eyes connected with hers, he could see that she had tears in her eyes and that caused the concern he felt over her to run wildly inside of him. "Why are you crying?"

Haley tried to lower her head back down but Nathan still had his hand under her chin and that meant that her head was propped up. She averted her gaze from Nathan, looking out of the corners of her eyes and took a deep breath as she willed her tears not to fall. "It's nothing, I'm just being silly." She responded and then moved her eyes back to connect with Nathan, offering him a small but rather sad smile.

"Well given that it's got you upset, Hales, I'm sure it's not simply nothing." Nathan responded and then tried to wrack his brains over the night they had just shared, trying to spot what had happened to change her from being in a good mood to her being so upset. She'd been absolutely fine in the theatre so it couldn't be that, and on the walk to the restaurant she'd been her normal Haley-self too. The only thing he could come up with was the waitress in the restaurant, but that couldn't have got her upset, could it? He dropped his hand from her chin and decided to try it out on her anyway, so that she could laugh at him at least for suggesting something so absurd. "It wasn't the waitress, was it?"

Haley sighed as she heard his words and not for the first time wondered if he really was psychic when it came to her. How the hell did he always manage to knock the nail right on the head? Was she really that transparent? She moved her eyes away from his penetrating stare and looked forlornly out of the window of the moving limousine which was taking them home to their apartment.

Nathan's brow furrowed as he took in Haley's reaction to what was meant to make her laugh. "Oh my God, it was her? What happened? Did she say something to you?" He asked, the panic and anger rising in his voice with each word he spoke. The instinct to protect her from everything was boiling extremely forcefully inside of him, overpowering all of his thoughts.

Haley shook her head. "No she didn't say anything to me Nathan; it was more what she said to you." She responded and then sighed heavily to herself at her own stupidity, even though at the moment she couldn't help the way that she felt about the whole damn thing.

"What do you mean what she said to me?" Nathan asked, confused as to how a waitress doing her job, albeit flirting just a little with him, could have upset Haley this much. It just didn't make any sense to him whatsoever.

"Well not so much what she said to you, but rather how she spoke to you." Haley said and then closed her eyes for a second, once again wondering why she let things like this bother her so much. Why couldn't she just stop thinking like this?

Nathan frowned at her and ran his hand through his hair, knowing exactly where she was going with this now, even though it had taken a few questions for him to get the answer he had been looking for. "Was it the flirting?" He asked.

Haley bit down on her lip and then released it just as she started to play with her hands which were resting in her lap. "Yes." She responded in a quiet voice and then lifted her gaze to look over at Nathan, knowing that she needed to explain this further. "It's not that she was flirting with you, because… well you know, it's just that she completely disregarded the fact that I was there. It's like she knows we're not together because you're you, and I'm just… plain old me."

"Haley, how can you think that about yourself?" Nathan asked her, completely exasperated with her total lack of self-confidence. He watched her flinch as his words fell on her and he instantly realized that he was being a little bit too loud and harsh with her. He leaned back against his seat and willed himself to calm down a little, because deep down it wasn't her that he was pissed at for this, he didn't blame her really for how she felt. The car pulled to a stop outside their apartment and he ran another frustrated hand through his hair. He had no idea how to help her and he hated feeling like this when it came to Haley because she was everything to him and not knowing what to do wasn't a feeling he was used to feeling. He liked to be in control and where Haley was concerned, he felt this overwhelming need to protect her and make her world as perfect as he could. "That fucking bastard Chase really pisses me off." He mumbled, knowing exactly who was to blame for the way that she was.

Haley looked up at Nathan in surprise as he muttered under his breath; however she shouldn't have felt that way. The fact that he was instantly able to diagnose the root of the problem should have been something she had expected him to do, but yet she still found his ability to know her so well quite amazing. She followed after him as they climbed out of the car and walked into the apartment building, before riding the elevator up to their floor in complete silence. She didn't know what the hell to say to him because she felt so pathetic about the whole situation.

Nathan was at a complete loss. He followed Haley down the hallway towards their apartment door and was trying desperately to come up with something which would help her be more self-confident, and help her realize how beautiful she really was. He followed her inside the apartment and suddenly was hit with a wave of inspiration. He took off his shoes and saw that Haley had started to walk towards the kitchen. "Gorgeous?" He called out to her and watched as she turned around to face him. "I want to show you something." He then walked down the hallway to her room and opened the door, allowing her to walk inside first.

Haley gave him a quizzical look but did as he was asking and walked into her bedroom. She watched him walk over to her walk-in closet and raised an eyebrow at him as she followed him inside. "Nathan what are we…" She started but Nathan interrupted her quickly.

"Just come and stand here for me, will you?" Nathan asked and smiled over at her as she made her way to stand in front of him. He then placed his hands on her shoulders and turned her around so that she was staring at her reflection in the mirrored wall of the closet before lowering his hands back down to his sides.

Haley sighed as she stared at her reflection, wondering what the hell he was doing. She moved her questioning eyes to Nathan's in the mirror and saw that he was staring right back at her. She shrugged her shoulders at the both of them. "I don't understand what you're doing." She stated and then lowered her gaze down to the floor.

Nathan still wasn't sure if this would work, but he needed to try. He could see that she was trying to avoid looking at herself and he wanted to change that. "Gorgeous, please look at yourself." He said softly and then waited for her to move her eyes back to her reflection before he continued. "Tell me what you see."

Haley rolled her eyes at Nathan, still not averting her gaze away from his to look at herself like he had asked. She could see that his eyebrow was raised at her though and so she sighed to herself before she removed her eyes from his and focused on herself. She shrugged her shoulders at both him and herself again. "I just see me, Nathan." She responded and then bit down on her lip and began to play with her hands in front of herself.

"Okay, but what is 'just me', Hales?" Nathan probed as he continued to look at her in the mirror.

"Just… God, Nathan, this is just ridiculous." Haley said in an exasperated tone. She had no idea how dissecting what she saw when she looked in the mirror at herself would benefit her in any way at all. It just seemed really silly.

Nathan placed his hands on her shoulders, feeling the material of her dress underneath his fingertips as he ran them down over the tops of her arms and back up to her shoulders again. "Please, gorgeous." He said, really hoping that she would just do this one thing for him.

Haley sighed deeply again and relaxed somewhat under Nathan's touch. She connected her eyes with his again before she moved them down her reflection in defeat. "Fine. I see… just a simple, brown haired, brown eyed girl wearing a far too fancy dress, in heels that she couldn't afford to buy herself and so had to exchange her best friend's present for them." She said and then raised her eyes up to his again as she bit down on her lip.

"And that's all you see?" Nathan asked with a raised eyebrow, wondering how she couldn't see what he could, and what he was sure that everyone else could see too.

Haley continued to gnaw away at her lip and then nodded her head as she looked deep into Nathan's blue eyes.

Nathan stilled the movement of his hands and rested them on her shoulders, sighing to himself. "Okay, do you want to hear what I see?" He asked, and then didn't wait for her to respond, because he knew how she reacted to having all the attention on herself, it wasn't something she generally enjoyed but he was going to do all he could to get through to her. "I see my best friend, the most important person in my life, the most giving, caring, wonderful girl in the whole world. I see these intensely beautiful brown eyes which see little details that only someone who truly cares could see. I see this amazing mind which picks up on everything, inquisitive and bright and so full of knowledge. I see the kind of person I'm proud to say that I know, proud to have in my life and I'm so thankful that you deem me worthy to be in yours…"

Haley leaned her head back against Nathan's chest and closed her eyes, feeling his hands beginning to move down her arm again, only this time they kept moving down towards her hands. She turned her head so that she was facing his neck and then opened up her eyes, just as she felt Nathan's hands close around both of hers. The feelings she had felt when they had been sitting in that box earlier on in the evening holding hands came rushing back to her, that feeling of serenity and security washing over her and she breathed in deeply, smelling the musky, manly scent of his aftershave. "Thank you, Nathan." She said softly and then opened her eyes as she turned her head back and straightened herself upright so that she could look at him through the mirror again.

Nathan continued to look at her, before he moved his eyes over the image of the both of them, him standing tall and happy behind the slight and slender Haley, his Haley, with both of their hands firmly grasped around each others at her side. The image made him smile and he felt completely content. He raised his eyes up her body and over her dress before they rested on hers in the mirror. He caught the change in the look that she was currently giving him. The mood surrounding them had suddenly shifted, and he felt Haley squeeze both of his hands with hers as she looked at him with such intense longing and yearning and need, trying to communicate what she wanted with him, but he already knew, of course he would know what she needed. It was number twelve.

Haley saw the hint of recognition in his eyes as she silently communicated with him, and because he was Nathan, because he was her best friend, he got it in an instant. She felt his hands move away from hers and she then felt his hands move up her back until they rested on the zipper of her dress on the centre of her back. She watched in the mirror as Nathan's head lowered to her shoulder and she felt him place a lingering kiss right on the top of it as she arched her head back against his chest and felt a shiver run down her spine as he began to lower the zipper to her dress. "I'd be completely lost without you." She said quietly and then watched in the mirror as Nathan placed a series of kisses along her shoulder and up her neck until he got to her ear. She could feel his warm breath fanning out on her skin and she relished in the feel of his stubble scratching against her neck.

Once Nathan had kissed his way up to his ear, he had lowered the zipper to her dress down to the small of her back. He fanned both of his hands out over her warm skin and moved them around her waist underneath the material of her dress which was still clinging to her body. He then lowered his hands and watched in the mirror as the material fell away from her body and dropped to a heap on the floor at her feet. He ran his eyes over her body, taking in the black and white lace bra and panty set she had on, her slender stomach and shapely legs until he got to the heels she had on. "It's a good job I'm not going anywhere then, isn't it." He whispered in her ear, before he brought his hand up the side of her body until he got to her bra and ran his finger underneath the strap, bringing it up to the top of her shoulder as he placed another kiss on her neck just below her ear.

Haley turned her head so that she was facing him as he continued to pepper kisses along her neck while he lowered her bra strap down her arm. His hand then moved to her back and he expertly unclasped her bra and she felt the material loosen from her body slightly. She sighed to herself as she bit down on her lip, feeling Nathan reach around to take the bra off her body. She knew that he had been trying to help her earlier, by telling her what he thought of her, but part of her couldn't help but think that he would say those things, after all, he was her best friend. She thought that her problems ran deeper than that and she didn't think they would be fixed simply by having her best friend tell her how wonderful she was. She closed her eyes for a brief second, wanting to tell him something so that maybe he could understand her a bit better. "I just worry I'll never be good enough… for anyone." She whispered so quietly she wasn't even sure if he would hear her.

Nathan hovered his mouth above her skin for a split second before he resumed his kisses along her neck to her shoulder as he allowed the weight of her words to settle on him. How could she say such a thing? He closed his eyes as he debated about whether he should say something back to her, but she had said it so quietly, he wasn't sure if she had even wanted him to hear it, or whether she was simply murmuring something to herself. He waited for her to say something to him but she never did and so he chose not to acknowledge what she had just said. He then felt Haley's hand wrap around the back of his neck and her fingers moved into hair as she gripped onto it and she moaned softly when his mouth moved back to her neck and he kissed her just behind her ear.

Haley gripped onto Nathan's hair tighter as the kisses he was leaving on her skin grew firmer. She closed her eyes as she lolled her head back against his shoulder, feeling his hands move up her stomach towards her breasts. She moaned and raked her nails against his scalp when she felt his hands close over both her breasts, before he proceeded to run the pad of his thumbs over her nipples and she felt them harden underneath his hand. He then used his fingers to roll them between his fingers, tugging on them slightly which caused a moan of pleasure to escape from her mouth. She arched her back against him, pushing her breasts out into his hands, always craving more from him. Her hand had moved down to the nape of his neck and she was now running her fingernails lightly over his skin, her breathing becoming increasingly laboured with his ministrations, his mouth still moving over her neck.

Once again Nathan could feel himself getting completely caught up in it all, the feel of her soft skin underneath his fingertips, the smell of her assaulting his senses, the taste of her skin as he ran his tongue along her neck, but this time he didn't fight it, this time he simply allowed himself to feel everything. His heart was pounding away in his chest, his own breathing as deep and heavy as Haley's and he then chose to open his eyes as he moved his mouth to her shoulder once more and glanced at their reflection in the mirror. He was completely enchanted with Haley, her eyes were closed, her head lolled back against him and to him, she looked absolutely phenomenal, so sexy and womanly. He moved his hands down her slender stomach and his eyes followed their movement as he hooked his thumbs into the elastic of the black and white satin panties she had on. He moved his eyes back up her body slowly and eventually reached her face, where he found that Haley was watching his every move in the mirror. There was something so erotic about her watching him undress her which caused this surge of desire to course through his entire body.

Haley was completely absorbed in all that he was doing to her. All of her senses were heightened and if she was honest with herself, as she looked into Nathan's eyes which were practically worshipping her, she never felt more confident with herself that she did in that moment. She sucked in a sharp breath as she moved her eyes down her body in the reflection and watched as he lowered her panties down her hips, exposing her most private parts to the both of them, but she didn't feel embarrassed, she didn't look away, instead she looked up and found that Nathan was completely engrossed and transfixed in all of her. She watched as he bent down on the floor behind her, pulling her panties further down her legs and she felt him place a kiss in the small of her back which sent these butterflies loose in her stomach at how intimate that small gesture felt. She then stepped out of her panties and then felt Nathan's hands run right up her legs from her ankles before he stood up again behind her. She would have thought that she would have been extremely self-conscious; standing completely naked in front of her fully clothed best friend but for some strange reason she didn't feel like that at all.

Once Nathan stood upright again, he took a few moments to really appreciate how beautiful she was, only he wasn't just concentrating on just what he could see reflected back at him in the mirror, he was looking deep inside of her and seeing the kind of person she was. He smiled at her in the mirror and watched as she smiled back at him gloriously, before he began to unbutton his shirt and then he took it off himself, throwing it to the side of where he was standing before he began to tackle his trousers.

Haley watched as Nathan removed his trousers, boxers and socks from his body until he was completely naked. She swept her eyes over his body appreciatively, allowing her eyes to trace over the toned muscles he seemed to have everywhere. She then raised her eyes to meet his in the mirror and saw him smiling at her, which she returned.

Nathan reached out to grab a hold of Haley's hands and grasped them firmly in his own. He took a step forward so that he was standing right behind her, his eyes wandering all over her body before he raised them to connect with hers again. He moved her hands towards the mirror which caused her to lean forwards a little until her hands were resting on the reflective glass. He could see that her breathing rate had increased yet again, as had his own. Once her hands were firmly planted on the glass, he moved his hands back up her arms and then swept them down the sides of her body, travelling over the curves of her breasts, down the dips of her waist until both of his hands rested on her hips.

Haley could feel Nathan's hard cock pressing into her back and the speed at which his hands were moving down her body was almost torturous. She lowered her eyes down to the floor as she parted her legs so as to help Nathan with the angle and when she lifted her head she found that Nathan was staring right at with such an intensity she almost forgot that she needed to keep breathing. She felt his left hand leave her hip and watched as his finger trailed a path down her pelvic bone and followed the curve at the top of her thigh until he came to her clit, which he circled a few times with his finger, causing her to moan out in yearning for him. She then felt his finger move lower until he dipped two of his fingers inside of her, causing her to push herself back into Nathan's body as she moaned his name softly.

Nathan watched Haley's facial expression in the mirror, not taking his eyes off her for one second as he withdrew his fingers from her heat and then pushed three of them slowly inside of her, watching as her face contorted in pleasure, her eyes clenched shut tight and he watched as she softly moaned his name again, and he drew so much delight in seeing her this wanton and free. Satisfied that she was wet enough for his cock, he watched in the mirror as he removed his hand from her and trailed it back up to her hip and then around to her back so that he could grab a hold of his cock. He then bent his knees a little and guided his cock to her entrance, pushing himself inside of her, before returning his hand to her hip. He pushed into her slowly, unable to keep from breathing her name, their eyes connected once more in the mirror as he moved himself inside of her, feeling once again completely and utterly lost in her.

Haley could feel Nathan's hands gripping onto her waist, she could feel his cock moving in and out of her at such a slow, measured pace which allowed her to literally feel his entire length moving along every inch of herself, she could feel his panting breath fanning out, warm against her back but all of those things which she could tangibly feel were nothing compared to the emotion she could feel coming from him as she gazed into his deep blue eyes. She was trapped in a trance with him, completely unable to move her eyes away from his own as she lowered her back so that she could lean more of her weight onto her hands which were still placed up against the mirror. She felt Nathan bend his legs again once he pulled his cock out of her and when he slowly entered her again, she could feel him going much deeper inside of her. "Oh God." She breathed and then she felt his right hand begin to trail back down her pelvic bone.

Despite how slowly Nathan was moving in and out of her, he was so caught up in just how good it felt to be inside of her like he was, to feel her responding to him and watching them both in the mirror; it all seemed to cause his orgasm to build much more quickly that it usually would. He trailed his finger down to her clit and then began to run his finger around it in languorous circles which caused Haley's eyes to close again for a second and he watched as she tried to grip onto the mirror, tenting her hands in an effort to curl her fingers up only she couldn't and he knew then that she was close which he was more than slightly relieved about because he knew he wasn't going to be able to last much longer himself.

Haley felt Nathan's finger brush right over the top of her clit and she moaned as she opened her eyes and felt her body begin to literally explode. Her legs were shaking as her orgasm washed over herself, she was sure she would have collapsed if it hadn't been for Nathan's hand which was still on her waist. He continued to move slowly in and out of her as her inner muscles clenched sporadically around his cock, her body trembling with each wave of pleasure that passed through her body. She found herself locked in his gaze once again, her vision becoming hazy and blurry as she cried out his name over and over again, and then she felt his hand move from her clit as she continued to convulse around him, both of his hands now on her hips as he drove himself deeper and deeper inside of her until he stilled his motions and spilled himself inside of her, groaning her name as he did so. They were both completely still for a moment, both trying to calm their beating hearts and their breathing. After a few minutes or so, Haley felt Nathan pull out of her and the loss she felt was immediate. She leaned forward and rested her forehead against the mirror, the warmth from her breath causing the reflective glass to fog up.

Nathan stepped forward so that he had closed the distance between them both and rested his forehead on her shoulder. "You're the most amazing person I know, Hales." He whispered against her back once his breathing had returned to a much more normal state, meaning every word. He then placed a light kiss on her shoulder blade, before he traced his nose over her back, inhaling her intoxicating scent which filled him with this incredible calming feeling, until he reached the top of her shoulder and then left another lingering kiss on her skin. He lifted his head slightly and began to trace circles with the pad of his thumbs where he was still holding onto her hips while his eyes connected with hers in the mirror. He could feel and see that her breathing was still very deep and laboured and he ran his eyes over her naked body, following every curve of her, bewildered still by how she could think such derogatory things about herself which were so unfounded, remembering her earlier words to him and feeling so saddened by her revelation. He slowly lifted his gaze up to her face again and could see the blush that was covering her face as she looked back at him. He furrowed his brow for a brief second and closed his eyes, before opening them again and finding her deep, brown eyes staring right back at him. "And you've always been, and will always be, more than good enough for me, Haley."

With those parting words, Haley felt Nathan step away from her, his fingers lingering on her skin as they softly moved from her hips to the centre of her back and then his touch was gone. She instantly felt the chill run down her spine at not having him close to her any more. She watched over her shoulder in the mirror as he walked out of her walk-in closet and as soon as he was no longer in her sight and she looked down at the floor as her fingers tried unsuccessfully to grip onto the mirror once more while she felt this rush of emotion run through her entire body. She felt like Nathan was the only person in the whole world who truly got her, when he spoke to her he always knew the right things to say, he always knew the right things to do. It was like he could see inside of her, read her thoughts, know exactly what she needed, when she needed it and why. She breathed in deeply, struggling to gather her thoughts because the emotion she was feeling was so intense it was completely overpowering everything else, yet she couldn't even begin to describe what it was. But something had definitely changed inside of her.

She gathered all the strength she could muster and pushed herself away from the mirror and really took a good look at her reflection in the mirror. Nathan truly was the only person in the world whose opinion really mattered to her and as she repeated the final words he had said to her, she realised that if Nathan thought that she was good enough, then that was all that counted. She spent a good five minutes giving herself a good talking to before she stood up straight and smiled at her reflection. For the first time in a long time, she actually felt good about her true self and it wasn't because she had achieved a good grade at school, it wasn't because she had ran an hour without stopping or landed a job she really wanted; it was because of the person she saw inside of herself. It was a strange feeling, one she hadn't felt in a long time but she liked it, and she knew that the person she had to thank for that was the man who meant the absolute world to her.

**AN – As always, I'd love to know your thoughts on the chapter – let me know what you thought by dropping me a review.**

**And as per usual, a preview will be available to those of you that want it, let me know in a review if you want it and I'll send it to you.**

**Oh and also, for those of you who haven't read it yet, I wrote another one shot over the Christmas period, it's called New Year, New Start if you're interested in giving it a read.**


	9. Chapter 9

**AN – Once again, I can only offer excuses and apologies for how long this chapter took me to get ready for you guys. January has been a bit of a busy month to say the least, wedding planning, my fiancé ending up on crutches and year end at work have all led to me having very little time to write!**

**But I do want to thank you all for the lovely reviews you guys keep leaving, I really do love reading them and they put a big smile on my face and encourage me to sit down at the laptop and try to write something, even when I really should be doing other things.**

**To those of you without accounts who reviewed the last chapter – as always just a few words – **Anonymous – **I'm so pleased you enjoyed the last chapter and as for them both admitting a few things to each other... it's coming! Hope you like the update! **BlueJean452 – **I'm so glad you liked the last chapter – hope you enjoy this one too! **Nicole – **I'm so pleased you liked the chapter – I couldn't send you a preview because you didn't leave your email address, or if you did, it got blocked out – sorry! Hope you enjoy this update too. **Violet – **So glad to hear you enjoyed the chapter and the way things are progressing between Nathan and Haley – hope you like this update too. **Mazzy – **The mirror was on Haley's list, as for Nathan giving her a nice evening just so he could sleep with her – I don't think he did any of it for that reason – he just wanted to apologise for their fight. Lily will all be explained soon as will the marathon questions, hope you like this update. **Rachel – **Aw I'm sorry I made you cry! Hope you enjoy this chapter! **Lou – **So pleased you liked the last update, your theories on Lily will all be revealed soon, hope you like this chapter.**

**Also just a quick note to **DreamNaley** – I couldn't send you the preview because you don't have messages allowed on your profile – so I'm sorry I didn't send it to you but I physically couldn't!**

**Anyway, enough rambling and on with the story. It's another long one (I think my longest yet) – which I hope makes up for the lack of posting from me over the last couple of weeks :o)**

**Major thanks go to Kristen and Rebecca as always!**

**Enjoy!**

**Chapter Nine**

Nathan didn't know whether he was coming or going. He was running around his bedroom in a complete panic, tripping over all the clothes which had dropped from the piles he was yanking out of his wardrobe and forcing into his suitcase which lay open on his bed. Once he thought he had packed enough shirts and suits, he quickly remembered he needed his toothbrush and so he ran out of his bedroom and came to a halt outside the closed bathroom door. He knocked urgently on it and he then waited impatiently for Haley to let him know that it was okay for him to enter, so that he could retrieve the items he needed from inside.

Haley had just switched off the shower and was wringing out her hair when she heard Nathan bang relentlessly on the door to the bathroom. She sighed heavily, wasn't he usually out of the house by this point on a Monday morning? She then quickly realised that Ryan was going to be picking her up very soon for their morning run and she'd told him the number of the apartment the last time she had seen him, so there was a very good chance that Nathan could still be here when he buzzed up. She grew slightly panicked because Ryan buzzing up to the apartment would be incredibly annoying, as she'd then have to explain to Nathan who Ryan was and what he was doing picking her up so early in the morning when she really didn't want to, not when they had just made up with each other this weekend after the debacle that was last week. "What is it, Nathan?" She called out while she squeezed her hair one last time to get rid of as much water as she could.

"I need to grab my toothbrush, Hales." Nathan shouted through the door as he placed his hand on the doorknob and began to twist it so that he could grab the item from where it had been left beside the sink. "Are you decent?" He knew very well that he should probably wait for an answer from her but he needed to finish packing, the car would be waiting outside very soon and so he didn't have the time for her to consider whether she was in fact ready for him to enter the room or not.

Satisfied that she'd wrung out as much water from her hair as was possible, Haley opened up the shower door and was just stepping out onto the bath mat. "Give me a min… Nathan!" She screamed as she reached out to grab her towel and quickly covered her naked body from his eyes, not that he was looking at her anyway, but still.

"Sorry, Hales, but I need to get going." Nathan half-apologised in a rush as he grabbed his toothbrush and then walked right out of the bathroom, barely noticing that Haley was trying to cover herself with a towel.

Haley adjusted the towel more securely around her body, confused by how quickly he had entered and then left the bathroom and then followed Nathan out of the room towards his bedroom, wondering why he couldn't have waited for two minutes for her to get herself ready and also why he needed his toothbrush so badly. She stopped in her tracks when she saw the bulging suitcase sitting on the top of his bed and watched as he placed his toothbrush inside one of the zipped compartments. "Why are you packing?" She asked, wondering what on earth he was doing and where he thought he was going at six o'clock in the morning, he hadn't mentioned the need to go anywhere to her at all. She could feel this sense of foreboding rising from deep inside of her and she was starting to panic a little because she didn't want to have to go through another week of not seeing him, last week had been absolute torture for her and she wasn't sure if she could cope with another week of that right after they'd just made up with each other. She'd been really looking forward to spending some time with him this week, she'd been looking forward to getting things back to normal but now it seemed he was leaving, which made normality impossible.

"I've got to go to Madrid." Nathan responded distractedly as he pushed all of his crumpled clothes down into the suitcase and then attempted to zip it up; only one of his shirts wasn't in the suitcase properly so the zipper got stuck half way around his case. "Damn it." He muttered to himself as he tucked the shirt inside and then successfully managed to close the suitcase.

Haley frowned as she watched Nathan pick up the now closed suitcase from his bed and place it on the floor, allowing his words to digest in her brain. Madrid? "But why do you have to go to Madrid?" She asked, unable to hide the disappointment from her voice.

"We need to attend a meeting with the European Director for the company I've been working on that ad campaign for and think about how we can merge the European and American markets." Nathan explained as he took his suit jacket from the chair in the corner of his room and put it on his body while moving his eyes quickly over his bedroom, checking to make sure he hadn't accidentally forgotten something.

"Well, when will you be back?" Haley asked with a panicked tone to her voice, really hoping that he wasn't going to have to stay away for longer than a couple of days, because she had been really looking forward to spending some time with him this week after all the drama that had happened the week before, she really didn't want to have to be on her own.

Nathan began to wheel his suitcase towards where Haley was standing in his doorway. "I really don't know, gorgeous. It depends on how well the meetings go and if the European division like what we're doing with the American side of the business." He said as he wheeled his case right past Haley and proceeded to walk towards the front door, hating the look that was in her eyes, but equally knowing that there was nothing he could do about it, he simply had to go, and if he didn't leave soon he'd get sucked into feeling even worse at having to leave her alone.

Haley could feel her shoulders slumping under all the disappointment which was weighing incredibly heavily on her body. That hadn't been the answer she wanted to hear at all, but then again, what she really wanted was for him to tell her that he wasn't going anywhere at all, and the suitcase he was carrying made that rather impossible really. Sullenly, she followed him out into the hallway and came to a stop next to the front door where Nathan was grabbing his keys and putting his wallet in his pocket.

Nathan patted his pockets and checked he had his passport, phone, keys and wallet before he turned to face Haley who had her sulky face on. He sighed heavily as he walked over to her, coming to a stop right in front of her, really wishing that he could do something to make her feel better about all of this. "Cheer up, gorgeous, please. I know the timing of this is shit but it has to be done. I'll be home before you know it."

Haley sighed to herself, knowing that she was being whiny and pathetic and as she looked at Nathan, she could tell that he was in a bit of a flap about having to leave so suddenly, so she probably wasn't helping the situation one bit with her moping. "Will you be back by Friday?" She asked, really hoping that he would be because at least then she'd have something to look forward to all week and that way they'd be able to spend the weekend together.

"Honestly, gorgeous, I don't know if I'll be back this week at all, I might have to stay out there until mid next week." Nathan responded, wanting to be honest with her even though he knew that wasn't what she wanted to hear.

"So you won't even come back for the weekend?" Haley asked in yet another whiny voice. She really needed to get a hold of herself because she knew this wasn't Nathan's fault, and he really had worked so hard to get that account, so she knew he needed to do all he could to make sure the customer was happy, but still she couldn't help but feel upset, even though she knew she should be supportive about his career.

Satisfied that he had all the items he needed before he headed out of the door, Nathan rested his arms at the sides of his body. "Trust me, gorgeous, I'll do all that I can to get home for the weekend, but I don't want to tell you I'm definitely coming and then have you feeling all let down because I can't make it in the end. So make plans as if I'm not going to be here, and if I am, well then that's a bonus, right?" He said and then checked his watch, seeing that his car should be outside waiting for him any second now.

Haley bit down on her lip and nodded her head, really hoping that he would do as he said and try his very hardest to come home at the weekend, because she really didn't want to make any plans that didn't involve him, he was the only person she wanted to spend time with.

"Good. Right, well I need to head outside, the car should be waiting for me now." Nathan said as he opened up the front door to their apartment. He walked through, wheeling his suitcase behind him and then turned around, finding Haley shuffling from one foot to the other, still biting down on her lip. He sighed once again and released his grip on his case. "Come on, Hales. Please don't be so upset. I'll be back before you know it."

Haley nodded her head once again, realising that she was being incredibly stupid but she couldn't help the way she felt at having him leave her, even though it was only going to be for little over a week by the sounds of things. "I'm sorry, Nathan. I just really wanted to spend some time with you this week, you know, after everything that happened last week and all." She said quietly as she looked down at the floor, playing with her hands with rested in front of her body.

Nathan reached his hand up and placed it just underneath Haley's chin, raising it up until she was looking right into his eyes instead of her looking down at the floor. He gave her a small smile and saw that she returned it despite how upset she clearly was, he could see it in her eyes. "I wanted to spend time with you too, gorgeous. But I have to go, you know that if I could see any way out of going, I would have taken it, don't you?" He said earnestly, really hoping that she believed him, because it was the truth.

Haley lowered her eyes once again quickly and then returned them to meet Nathan's blue eyes, which were looking at her so sincerely; she couldn't doubt him even if she had wanted to. "I know. Just, be safe, stay in touch, and call me as soon as you land please." She said, offering him another small smile to let him know that she understood why he had to go, even if she didn't like it.

"Of course I will." Nathan returned. He pulled her into his arms, wrapping them around her back and crushing her to him, burying his nose in her still damp hair, the scent of her shampoo assaulting his nostrils. He felt Haley cling onto him, and he was mildly confused by the battling emotions he could feel inside of himself. It was always hard to leave Haley for business, but it had never been this difficult, he'd never been this hesitant. He really did feel like calling his bosses and simply telling them he couldn't go, but he knew the ramifications of not going could damage his entire career at the company, so in all reality he couldn't just do as he pleased.

Haley wondered if she held onto him tightly enough, she'd be able to coerce him into staying and not going away at all. She hated herself for thinking so selfishly, because she knew how important this entire project was for him, he'd literally been working his ass off for it, but she couldn't help the way that she felt. She closed her eyes and squeezed him more tightly to her body, turning her head so she was able to breathe in the glorious scent of his aftershave from his neck.

Although Nathan wanted to keep Haley in his arms for much longer, he knew that he needed to go. He gently prized Haley off his body, and held onto her shoulders, bending his knees and holding her at arm's length so that he could look her right in the eyes, so that she'd know he meant business. "Promise me you'll take care of yourself?" He asked pleadingly, hoping that she would understand exactly what he meant.

Haley could help the fact that she rolled her eyes at his remark, knowing exactly what he was alluding to. "I promise I'll eat three, healthy meals a day. Okay? I'll even keep a food diary if you're that worried, or shall I email you each time I put a piece of food in my mouth?" She responded sarcastically.

Nathan chuckled at her snarky response, pleased that she had dragged herself out of her wallowing hole, even if it only was to show her displeasure over his over protectiveness. "I don't think the daily emails are necessary, but just make sure you do eat properly, okay?" He said and then leaned forward so that he could place a kiss on her forehead.

Haley closed her eyes when she felt Nathan's lips land on her skin for a brief second, and as soon as he pulled away from her, she nodded her head at him. "I will." She said.

"Good. Well the car will probably be waiting outside now so I should head on down." Nathan responded and then took a hold of his case again. He smiled at Haley and then began to walk towards the elevator, turning around to see Haley, still dressed in just her towel, leaning against their front door.

Haley watched as Nathan wandered towards the elevator, turning around every few seconds to smile at her. She leaned her head against the door and saw him press the button to call the elevator to their floor. The doors opened and Nathan stepped inside, turning around to face her again. "Call me the second you land, okay?" She called down the corridor.

Nathan smiled and waved at her as the doors began to close, nodding his head to her request. "I'll miss you, gorgeous." He called back down the corridor just before the doors shut.

"You too." Haley responded as she waved once more to Nathan before the doors closed completely. She sighed to herself, still resting her head against the door, before she realised she was standing in the hallway wearing nothing but her towel. She sighed to herself and walked back into the apartment, closing the door behind her, the slamming noise reverberating through their home. She pondered over how much more lonely she felt, despite the fact that she'd been on her own here so many times before, given that she knew Nathan wouldn't be coming home at all tonight.

The elevator doors opened with a chime once Nathan reached the ground floor of the apartment building. He rolled his suitcase through the lobby towards the front doors and opened them, dragging his case out behind him. He saw a man jogging along the street in his peripheral vision and then noticed that the man began to jog up the steps towards the front door, so Nathan quickly reached out to stop the door from closing so that the man wouldn't need to buzz up or use his key. He saw the man halt for a brief second and he puzzled over why he didn't just carry on jogging through the door.

Ryan jogged up the front steps of the apartment building, seeing that a man had very kindly held open the door for him. He hesitated for a second, wondering if he should just head on inside and get Haley from her front door, or whether he should just buzz up and wait for her outside. After pondering this for a couple of seconds, he decided that he didn't see any harm in going inside and so he smiled at the man who was holding the door open for him. "Thank you." He said as he walked through the door and past the suited man.

"No problem." Nathan responded and then carried his case down the steps towards the car which was waiting for him by the curb.

Thirty seconds later, Haley was still standing in the hallway of the apartment, wondering what she was going to do with her whole week now she knew she had the apartment all to herself, when she heard a knock at the front door. She rolled her eyes to herself, wondering what it was that Nathan had forgotten. She turned herself around and took a step forward before she opened the door. "What did you forget this time then..." She said as she opened the door but then trailed off at the end in confusion when she realised that it wasn't Nathan but was in fact Ryan who was standing on the other side of the door.

Ryan wondered briefly what the hell Haley was going on about; he hadn't forgotten anything, but his thoughts were quickly distracted from asking what she was talking about when the door opened and revealed her standing on the other side wearing nothing but a towel. His eyes nearly popped out of his head as they wandered down her bare neck to where her cleavage was currently pressed up to her body given how tightly she had the towel wrapped around her body. Picking her up from the front door instead of buzzing up had inevitably been a genius idea.

Haley could feel her cheeks flushing what she knew would be an incredible shade of red as she wrapped her hands around herself, modestly trying to cover more of her body, even though that was impossible given that she was wearing nothing but a towel. "Ryan, what they hell are you doing here?" She hissed at him in complete embarrassment, although judging by the grin which was covering his face, it was clear to her that her levels of embarrassment were not reciprocated in the slightest.

Ryan couldn't wipe the smile off his face. Nor could he keep his eyes from wandering over her body, even if it was covered by an extremely large towel, it was still a sight he needed to behold for as long as he possibly could.

He wasn't answering her question and Haley was starting to lose her patience with him extremely quickly. She knew that she'd given him the number of the apartment she lived in, but that still didn't explain what he was doing, here, outside her apartment door, instead of waiting outside of the building like any normal person would when they didn't have a key to the front door. She watched as his eyes continued to roam over her body which finally caused her to interrupt his actions and get herself speaking instead of thinking. "How the hell did you even get in here?" She asked as she tried again to cover herself up a little more, making sure that her towel was securely wrapped around her body. Ryan's eyes were still wandering and she could tell that he wasn't giving her question any consideration whatsoever. "Ryan, I asked you a question. Two in fact. Quit ogling and for crying out loud will you look at my face, please."

Ryan heard Haley snap at him and so knew that she wasn't pleased about something, but he didn't for the life of him comprehend what she was going on about. He guessed it was the fact that he had caught her dressed in nothing but a towel and so reluctantly, and with one last longing look at her body, he raised his eyes up to her face. "I'm sorry, Haley, what were you saying?" He asked.

Haley noted that he didn't look at all sorry, but at least his eyes weren't on her body now. "God, you're such a typical man." She muttered under her breath and then sighed heavily to herself.

"Hey, don't you start all that 'typical man' crap again, Haley." Ryan defended himself and raised an eyebrow at Haley.

Haley placed one of her hands on her hips and raised an eyebrow of her own right back at Ryan. "Okay, let's just recap on what just occurred here, shall we? You catch me wearing nothing but a towel, and then proceed to spend two or three minutes staring at me and ignoring everything I'm saying to you. Yet I'm not allowed to brand any of those actions as you acting like a typical man?" She retorted.

Ryan opened and closed his mouth several times, unable to come up with a response to that for a while, until he eventually found some words. "Well, what about you, Hales? How do I know that you didn't plan for me to find you wearing nothing but a towel? That would be typical woman behaviour, planning a trap for me to fall into just so you can then shout at me about it." Ryan responded, feeling rather pleased with himself that he'd managed to come up with any reply at all, because honestly everything Haley had said had been true.

"Okay, first of all, I don't even know how you got in the building without a key in the first place, so your logic about me wanting you to find me dressed like this is completely flawed anyway. And second of all, why would I even want you to catch me in a towel?" Haley responded, still standing with her hand placed on her hip and her eyebrow raised at Ryan.

Ryan was trying to ignore the fact that her comments hurt him just a little; it seemed the step from being her friend to being a potential date wasn't one that she was quite ready to make. But that was okay. He had plenty of time and didn't mind waiting for her to realise that they could be good together for as long as it was going to take her to. He decided to remain upbeat instead of letting her offhand comments drag his mood down and also decided to answer the question about how he'd managed to get into the building instead of continuing this stream of conversation any further. "Some guy held the door open for me as they were walking out, so I decided to come up and get you myself."

Haley instantly felt her mind begin to work overtime. It had to be Nathan who had held the door open for him, the timing all fit perfectly, didn't it? She could feel herself beginning to panic, praying that they didn't say anything to each other. "What guy?" She asked cautiously.

"I don't know, some dude in a suit." Ryan responded. "He had a suitcase with him too so he was obviously headed out of town."

Haley could feel her heart racing in her chest. God, it really had been Nathan. What if Ryan had asked him for directions up to the apartment? How the hell would she explain to Nathan what Ryan was doing, coming round at six o'clock in the morning without mentioning the fact that they were training for a marathon? Because she knew that Nathan was so not ready to hear about that, not when they'd just made up after a major row about the fact that she had simply joined a gym this past weekend. But Nathan would have asked loads of questions if Ryan had asked for directions up here, wouldn't he? He wouldn't have just let some strange man he'd never met come up to the apartment to see her, would he? "Did you say anything to him?" She questioned apprehensively, holding in a deep breath as she waited for Ryan's answer.

Wondering why Haley was acting so weirdly about it all, Ryan thought back to the moment that had happened a couple of minutes ago. "No, I just said 'thank you' when he held the door open for me, why?" He responded.

Haley let go of the breath she had been holding and felt the relief wash over her, pleased that her secret was still safe. "Oh, it's nothing; we're just not supposed to let strangers into the building, that's all." She lied, thinking about how much of a close call that had been.

"Okay." Ryan responded sceptically, not believing Haley's reasoning but deciding to change the subject, after all, they needed to train and then he needed to get to the gym for work. "So are we running today?"

"Oh yeah, sure we are. Come on in and I'll just go and get changed really quickly." Haley responded and then held open the door to the apartment wider, allowing Ryan to enter.

Haley left Ryan in the lounge and walked along the corridor towards her bedroom, eager to get out of the towel she was wearing and change into something more appropriate for her to be wearing around a friend. She was mildly miffed at the fact that Ryan had been more interested in her wearing just a towel than Nathan had been, but she quickly shook those feelings from her head. Ryan was simply Ryan, he was flirty and fun and his staring probably didn't mean much in the grand scheme of things. And Nathan? Well he had been in a rush, hadn't he? And besides, why would she want her best friend staring at her when she was wearing nothing but a towel? That was the most inconsequential of her thoughts, surely. But then why was that thought the one that she kept mulling over continuously as she walked into her closet?

Once she had changed into her training shorts and a cropped top, she walked past Ryan in the lounge and headed into the kitchen, pulling out a bottle of water from the refrigerator. She then wandered back to the lounge, seeing that Ryan was eyeing up the DVD collection which was shelved over by the television.

Ryan could see Haley in his peripheral vision but he was so engrossed in all the DVD's she had on the shelves, he couldn't bring himself to look away from them. "This is quite the collection you have here, Haley." He said, feeling rather impressed with the films she had on display. "You like films like Casino and Scar Face?"

"Oh, those are all Nathan's." Haley responded. She wasn't sure why, but she felt kind of strange, seeing Ryan standing in the apartment she shared with Nathan, talking about her best friend. It didn't feel comfortable to her at all.

Ryan smiled but continued to eye Nathan's DVD collection. "Well you can tell him from me that he's got good taste in films then." He said before adding casually. "What's your favourite film?"

"Phantom of the Opera. It's actually my favourite show but I love anything and everything to do with it, so..." Haley said, shrugging at Ryan as he turned to her with a smirk on his face, one which could possibly rival Nathan's. And once again, she felt a slight shiver run down her spine at how weird this whole situation seemed. Shouldn't the only person who smirks at her in her own home be Nathan? But she quickly disregarded that thought because it was stupid. It wasn't like she and Nathan were boyfriend and girlfriend, it wasn't like they were engaged and were going to spend the rest of their lives living together, was it? So of course other men would smirk at her in her own home. She was just being silly, that was all.

Ryan couldn't help but smirk at her answer. He turned around to face her and shook his head at her. "Typical girly answer." He muttered just loud enough for Haley to hear him.

Haley's mouth dropped open in shock, not just because of what he was saying, but because it was something that Nathan used to tease her about constantly. "Excuse me, but Phantom of the Opera is not a 'typical girly answer'. A typical girly answer would be The Notebook, or... I don't know, something like PS I Love You. Not Phantom of the Opera." Haley shot back and the folded her arms across her chest in defiance. "And anyway, what about you? There are all kinds of films on those shelves and which ones do you pick out, Casino and Scar Face? I'd say they were extremely stereotypical boyish choices."

"No Haley, they're just good films." Ryan returned with yet another smirk as he took in her stance, she had her arms folded across her chest and she was glaring at him. "And besides, Phantom of the Opera is just..."

"Don't you dare say anything bad about Phantom of the Opera. If you do, we can't be friends anymore." Haley returned seriously.

Ryan held his hands up in mock surrender. "I was only going to say that the film is just not as good as seeing the show on stage, don't get all uptight about it, Haley." He returned and then laughed at her when her stance softened slightly. "Come on; let's get you outside so you can work off some of your fury on the ground while you're running, instead of snapping your head off at me."

Haley glared at Ryan as he walked past her towards the front door and then followed him out to towards the elevator, grabbing her keys from the side table as she did so. "Believe me, Ryan, that was not me snapping. You don't want to hear or see what I'm like when I'm really snapping." She called after him as she followed behind him.

"I'm sure I don't, Haley." Ryan responded playfully as he called the button for the lift to arrive.

"I mean it; I can be really scary when I want to be." Haley retorted. She didn't know why she was being a little bit hostile with Ryan, but she could probably put it down to the fact that fifteen or so minutes ago, she thought she'd have her best friend around all week, and now she was faced with the reality of him not being around. She knew she was being a little bitchy, pushing all of her frustrations onto Ryan, but she couldn't help how upset she felt at Nathan leaving.

"I'm sure your five foot four, is it, frame would completely and utterly intimidate all six foot two of me." Ryan returned and then stepped inside the elevator given that it had just arrived at their floor.

Haley continued to glare at him, not moving from where she was currently standing outside of the elevator.

"Are you getting in or not?" Ryan asked as he held the door open, unable to stop grinning at how determined she was being. He obviously knew she had it inside of her, you needed a heap of determination to be training for a marathon, but he'd never seen her like this really, she'd only been this fiery when she was being hard on herself, but that had been different.

"Only if you admit that I can be scary." Haley returned, folding her arms back across her chest and tapping her foot on the ground.

Ryan couldn't help but chuckle at her. "We really need to get going if you want to get a full hours training in, you know?" He responded.

"Well then you'd better start admitting a few things, shouldn't you?" Haley said, this time raising her eyebrow as she continued to tap her foot on the floor.

Ryan rolled his eyes at her playfully, still holding on to the button which held the doors open. "Fine. I'm sure you can be really scary when you want to be, Haley." He said. "Are you going to come inside now so we can get running?"

Haley smiled at him in triumph. "Thank you. And yes." She said as she stepped into the elevator. She stood next to Ryan and glanced up at him, seeing that he was still continuing to roll his eyes at her as the doors closed. "Will you stop with the whole eye roll thing, please. I may be small, Ryan, but believe me, my size is not relative at all to how scary I can be when I'm angry."

"I don't know about angry and scary, Haley, but you're as stubborn as a mule sometimes." Ryan returned as he felt the elevator begin to descend.

Haley nodded her head to herself. She'd heard that one from Nathan on more than one occasion too. God, he'd only been gone all of twenty minutes and she already missed the hell out of him. She didn't know how she was going to be able to last a whole week, if not more, of not seeing him.

~*~

"Come on, Haley, why not?" Ryan asked again as he jogged along beside her. It was now Thursday and they had moved past their friendly disagreement which occurred at the start of the week. They were now back to full on, Ryan-Haley banter. It really was business as usual.

"Because, Ryan, I'm washing my hair." Haley returned with a grin on her face as she continued to jog along at the pace they set. Each day this week, they'd run for an hour and each time they had covered more distance than the previous day, which was a great achievement as far as she was concerned. She loved the feeling of accomplishment she got each day that she managed to run just a tad further, it really made her feel like she was getting somewhere with this whole marathon training business.

"Come on, Haley, that's crap and you know it. It doesn't take you all night to wash your hair." Ryan returned, unable to hide the grin from his face too.

"You'd be surprised actually. It takes me ages to dry it." Haley responded and grinned over at Ryan.

Ryan shook his head at her. Ever since Haley had told him that Nathan had gone away for the week on Tuesday, he'd been trying to get Haley to come out with him on Saturday night. "So you're seriously going to just sit in all night and wash your hair?" He asked disbelievingly. "Why wouldn't you want to go out?"

Haley sighed, knowing that there were more than a few reasons as to why she didn't want to go out with Ryan on Saturday night. There was firstly the fact that it would feel a little bit strange because she didn't know what label to put on their night out should she decide to go. She didn't really feel like she wanted it to be a date and she couldn't put her finger on why it made her feel a little bit uncomfortable. But besides that, there was the fact that she didn't want to plan anything just in case Nathan decided to come home for the weekend. She'd missed him desperately all week, throwing herself into the gym and training for the marathon as a way of distracting herself from how lonely she felt without Nathan being home. She knew she was being silly, because she'd spent a lot of time without him while he was working on this project at home as it was, but there was something about knowing that he was coming home for the night, even if she wouldn't see him, there was simply something about knowing that he'd be there. The apartment felt incredibly empty and desolate without him there. She didn't like it one bit. But Nathan had told her on the phone this morning that the likelihood of him coming home for the weekend was unlikely, almost impossible. She'd moaned and whined incessantly, but eventually had to accept what he was saying to her, what was she able to do about it from New York when he was in Madrid? So therefore, she reasoned with herself, if he wasn't coming home, she may as well do something on Saturday night. Ryan was right; she would just be sitting in the apartment all night sorting out her hair. How pathetic was that? "What would you be suggesting?" She asked cautiously as she kept the pace up alongside him.

Ryan was slightly shocked that she was now appearing to be interested in his plans for Saturday night. "I don't know, I was thinking maybe just going to the movies or something?" He responded, unable to hide the smile that covered his face now that Haley was at least thinking about going out with him on Saturday night. That was a turn up for the books to say the least.

Haley pondered his offer. She was meeting up with Brooke, Lucas, Peyton and Jake tomorrow night, and then she had no plans apart from hitting the gym all weekend. She'd probably end up driving herself crazy with how depressed she'd be, so maybe going to the movies would be a good idea, it would serve as another distraction for how much she would no doubt be missing Nathan. "What movie?" She asked as she turned her head to face Ryan, finding that he was absolutely beaming at her.

"We can go and see something incredibly girly if you want to." Ryan said, shaking his head at her in mock jest. He had wanted to see the latest horror film but if he got to spend some time with Haley away from any form of training, he could live with sitting through two hours of incredibly predicable storylines.

Haley couldn't help but laugh at his words. "You sure you don't mind seeing something girly?" She asked, wanting to double check.

"No, we can go and see whatever you want us to see." Ryan responded, just as his watch started to beep, indicating that they had finished their one hour's training for the day.

Haley slowed to a stop beside Ryan, noting that they had, once again, run further than they'd managed to yesterday. She felt rather proud of how well she was progressing with all this running malarkey. Once she had got her breath back and had stretched her muscles, she walked with Ryan towards the exit of the park.

Ryan walked alongside Haley in silence as they continued towards her apartment. He felt rather pleased with himself that he'd managed to coerce a movie trip out of her. It had taken a while but he guessed the old saying was true, sometime persistence really did pay. He came to a halt outside her apartment building. "So what time should I pick you up on Saturday?" He asked.

"I don't mind, what time do you want to pick me up on Saturday?" Haley asked, still feeling a little bit strange about the whole thing. She still couldn't put her finger on why it all felt so weird.

"How about sevenish?" Ryan suggested.

"Sure, seven works." Haley responded and then walked up the steps to the apartment building's front door. She then turned back around once she got to the top step. "This isn't a date though, right?" She didn't know why she felt the need to clarify that point, but she wanted to nonetheless.

Ryan felt slightly knocked off centre as he took in Haley's comment. He wasn't quite sure what to make of it, but, being his usual happy Ryan self, he smiled back at her. "Of course it's not a date." He returned, and felt slightly put out when he saw Haley visibly relax.

Haley felt like a million pound weight had been lifted from her shoulders. She felt much better about the whole thing now. It was simply two friends going out to the movies together. There wasn't any harm in that, was there? "Well thanks for training today. We're not running tomorrow, are we?" She said.

"No, no running tomorrow. I can't do Saturday either, I've got the early shift at the gym and I need to be there by half five in the morning." Ryan returned.

"Okay, well I guess I'll see you at seven on Saturday then?" Haley asked.

"Sure, I'll swing by and pick you up, that okay?" Ryan questioned.

"Sounds good. See you Ryan." Haley said as she turned around and put her key in the lock, opened the door, turned to wave at Ryan and then wandered over to the elevators.

Ryan watched as Haley walked further into the apartment building before he took off towards the gym with a gentle jog. So it seemed Haley still wasn't ready for dating, but maybe after they spent a night out together she'd think differently. He hoped so, anyway.

~*~

On Friday evening, Haley found herself in the bar, just like she would be on any other Friday night; however, instead of being happy and excited that it was finally the weekend, she felt extremely miserable inside of herself. She was doing her best to appear cheerful, as she didn't need Brooke, Lucas, Peyton and Jake to know how down she felt, especially as the only explanations she had for feeling this way was because Nathan wasn't home. It was ridiculous, she knew that but given that this morning he'd confirmed once and for all the fact that he would definitely not be coming home for the weekend, and in the processes darkening the only shed of light she'd been holding onto all week, she felt completely shattered.

"Okay, seeing as the drinks are on Jake this week, for once, I think we should go all out. Who wants some sambuca?" Brooke asked with an extremely excited tone to her voice.

The whole table muttered their approval of this idea, but Haley wasn't listening. Instead she was staring off into space, wondering what she was going to with herself all weekend now she knew for definite that Nathan wasn't going to be there. She was going to the movies with Ryan tomorrow, but apart from that and going to the gym she didn't really have anything she needed to do. She had to grab some groceries at some point but that was all.

"Haley?" Brooke asked as she waited for a response from her before she went to the bar.

"Huh?" Haley said, snapping out of her daydream and turning back to face Brooke, not having a clue what she wanted from her.

"I'm ordering sambuca, that okay?" Brooke said as she rolled her eyes at the fact that Haley hadn't been listening to her.

"Yeah, that's fine." Haley said distractedly and then watched as Brooke walked over to the bar, and Peyton and Jake wandered over to the pool table. She felt her mind drifting off to Nathan again, wandering what he would be doing right now. Sleeping probably, she presumed given that it was the early hours of the morning in Madrid.

Lucas slid over in his chair, closing the distance that was between him and Haley, taking a gulp of the bottle of beer he had in his hands. "Has Nathan been in touch since he left for Madrid?" He asked, placing the bottle of beer back down on the table.

Haley turned her body slightly so she could look at Lucas properly. "He's been calling me a couple of times a day. He's pretty busy out there." She responded, unable to keep the smile from playing on her lips as she thought about him. "But then again, where work's concerned, he's always busy."

Lucas rolled his eyes at his brother's antics. "He's been that way for some time now, hasn't he?"

Haley nodded her head as she picked up her vodka and diet coke, taking a sip and then she placed it back down on the table, running her fingers along the table until they were perched on the edge of it. She studied her fingernails for a brief second, noticing that she could do with getting a manicure. She wanted to say so much to Lucas, to tell him how worried she was about Nathan but somehow she felt like she would be betraying her best friend if she went behind his back and discussed all of this with his brother, even if she did count Lucas as one of her closest friends too.

Lucas sighed, knowing that he shouldn't put Haley in this position but given how badly the discussion with Nathan had gone last time, he wasn't sure what else he could do. He hoped that Haley would be able to somehow get through to his brother in a way that evidently he couldn't. "Has he said anything to you, Haley?" He asked, the dislike of having to ask Haley without Nathan knowing he was doing so was clearly evident in the tone of his voice.

Haley sighed and stopped staring at her hands, moving her gaze up to see Lucas' worried expression on his face and she knew exactly what he was talking about without even needing to ask. There was only one subject of conversation which caused this much trouble and anguish. "I tried to talk to him about it, to be honest it probably wasn't the best situation for me to do so because we were arguing, but you know how he gets. He just clams up, refuses to even acknowledge anything happened." She responded.

"I asked him if he wanted to come up with me and Brooke to see her but he just completely lost it." Lucas said and shook his head. "I just don't know what to do. He can't keep avoiding it like he is, one day it's all going to catch up with him and he's going to have a complete meltdown if he doesn't start accepting what happened soon. I'm really worried about him."

"I am too, Lucas." Haley responded, completely understanding where he was coming from. "But I don't know if it's best to keep bringing it up or whether we should just let him deal with this in his own way."

"But he isn't dealing with it Haley, he's completely evaded it, for five years..." Lucas trailed off, running a hand through his hair in complete frustration at the whole situation.

Haley smiled softly at the familiar gesture from Lucas, one that Nathan seemed to do constantly when he was troubled, frustrated, angry, nervous... "I know he is, but you try telling him that."

"I did try. He told me he was dealing with it in his own way, which is total crap because he knows, I think, or rather I hope, deep down that he hasn't even tried to begin to deal with it at all." Lucas responded and then noticed Haley's conflicted expression on her face. "I'm sorry to be discussing this with you, Haley, I know it puts you in a horrible position, I just don't know what to do."

"Don't worry, Lucas, it's no problem. I completely understand your concerns because I have exactly the same ones myself. I'll tell you what, when he finally gets back from Madrid, I'll do my best to talk to him again about Lily. But I can't guarantee that I'll get anywhere. He absolutely despises talking about it." Haley said, smiling softly over at Lucas.

Lucas breathed a sigh of relief, pleased to have Haley on his side for this situation. "Thank you so much Haley. I just hope he finally decides to listen to one of us."

"You don't have to thank me Lucas." Haley responded and then spun herself around in her seat when she heard a noise coming from behind her. She looked down at the table and could see a tray full of shot glasses in front of her which Brooke had just placed down. She lifted her gaze and saw Brooke standing in front of her, having rounded up Jake and Peyton also. She raised her eyebrow at the amount of alcohol which was on their table. "Seriously, Brooke?"

"What? Jake is never the last one here, so we need to make the most of the fact that he's paying for drinks tonight." Brooke shrugged and then proceeded to hand out sambuca shots to everyone.

"Jesus, my account is going to be taking a hammering tonight, isn't it?" Jake asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh yes." Brooke said with a wicked grin on her face. "Come on then, everybody ready? One, two, three!"

Haley lifted the shot glass that had been placed in her hands to her mouth and drank it all in one gulp, wincing as she felt the alcohol run down her throat, causing it to burn slightly. She slammed her glass back down on the table and closed her eyes for a brief second, allowing the drink to settle inside of her.

"Alright, another one." Brooke said as she handed the second shot out to everyone.

Haley groaned. "Brooke, I don't want to do another one of them."

"Stop moaning, Haley." Brooke said as she raised her glass into the middle of the table, waiting for everyone else to follow suit. Once she was satisfied that everyone had their drink in place, she grinned, pleased to be surrounded by her friends, minus Nathan of course. "Cheers!"

Haley took the second shot, still feeling the burn of the alcohol in her throat. She immediately grabbed her vodka and diet coke and took a large gulp of it, trying to get the disgusting aniseed taste out of her mouth, which the vodka and diet coke managed to do. "Urgh. I'm going to get myself another one of these, anyone else want anything?" She asked as she waved her now empty glass in the air.

"Can you grab me a scotch?" Lucas asked.

"Sure." Haley responded and then scooted along the seat until she got to the end so that she could get out and head towards the bar. She'd obviously had more to drink that she thought because she had to grip onto the table when she stood up to prevent herself from falling over.

She stumbled over to the bar and managed to order the drinks and bring them back, although half the scotch and her vodka and diet coke had somehow managed to get knocked out of the glass on the way back to the table. She held the glasses up to her face, frowning as she tried to understand how they were no longer full, but then giving up on thinking because her head was so hazy she couldn't think straight. She shrugged and placed the glasses down on the table.

"Where's the rest of it?" Lucas asked humorously as he took his scotch and gulped down some of the liquid.

Haley stuck her tongue out at Lucas as she slid into the seat.

Lucas almost spluttered his drink out on the table as he watched Haley fumble as she tried to move across the seat. He shook his head at her and grabbed onto her arm, pulling her along the seat towards him. "Are you drunk, Haley James?" He asked teasingly.

Haley frowned as she picked up her vodka and diet coke from the table and took a sip. "No, I'm not drunk." She returned pointedly. She hated it when people accused her of being drunk. She wasn't a good drunk; Nathan always had to take care of her one way or another when she drank too much and he'd always give her stick for it the next day when she couldn't remember what the hell had happened.

She was drunk, she realised at around ten o'clock when she decided that she'd had enough for the night and wanted to go home. She stupidly had refused Luke and Jake's offers to get her home, insisting that she was okay and that she could walk herself home perfectly fine. They weren't too happy with it but she'd put up enough of an argument to mean that eventually they agreed with her decision to leave by herself. She walked to the curb and stuck her arm out in the hope that a cab would stop for her; there was no way in hell she'd be able to walk all the way home.

Two minutes later, she saw a cab indicate and pull up beside her. She climbed inside and mumbled the address of the apartment to the cab driver and slumped back on the seat. In her drunken haze, she seemed to miss Nathan even more now than she had before. She was moping, staring out of the window, dreading going home to the apartment, knowing that it would be empty, except for herself of course, for the entire weekend. Even when Nathan was locked away in his study and she didn't see him for hours on end, just knowing he was there was a comfort of sorts, and it all felt wrong, him not being there for so long. Completely forgetting about the time difference, she pulled her mobile phone out of her bag and pressed her pre-assigned speed dial to his phone, hearing the phone ring in a foreign ring tone.

Nathan had been sleeping soundly in his hotel bed but was woken by the shrill ring tone of his mobile phone. He glanced at the clock, cursing to himself when he saw the time, before reaching over to grab his ringing phone from the table next to the bed. He stopped cursing as soon as he saw Haley's name on the screen though, jolting upright in bed and answering the call quickly. "Gorgeous, is everything okay?" He asked quickly. Why else would she be calling at four o'clock in the morning, something had to be wrong?

Haley sighed heavily, feeling half better for hearing his voice and half worse, because now her level of missing him had escalated once again. "No, everything's not okay." She responded and pouted a little.

Nathan grew incredibly panicked. "What's wrong?" He asked urgently. Had she been hurt? Had the apartment been burgled? Had there been a fire? He pondered over the tone of her voice. She didn't sound hysterical at all, so it couldn't be either of those things, and now that he thought about it, she just sounded a bit sullen and depressed.

Haley leaned her head back against the seat in the cab and closed her eyes. "You, you're what's wrong. I miss you and I can't believe that you're not coming home this weekend. I can't believe that after last week and everything that happened that you're just not going to be there. Now it's like I haven't seen you properly in two weeks, not one, and it's just not right Nathan, and it's not fair either." She moaned and rambled.

Nathan flopped back down on the bed, slightly relieved that the reason she was calling at such an unreasonable hour wasn't for anything too serious. "Gorgeous, I know its rubbish but I didn't really have a choice..." Only he was interrupted from speaking any further by Haley.

"Yes you did have a choice. You could have just said no but you didn't, did you? You just left me here all on my own." Haley continued to moan. "And now I've not got anything to do the whole weekend and it's all just shit, Nathan, I really wanted to spend some time with you, you know, just hang out and stuff but you've made that impossible with your stupid business trip and all I have to keep me occupied is cleaning the damn apartment..."

Nathan ran his free hand over his face, listening to Haley go on and on. "Gorgeous, how much have you had to drink?" He interrupted.

"What are you saying, Nathan? That I'm drunk?" Haley exclaimed in complete outrage.

Nathan rolled his eyes to himself. The fact that she was drunk was obvious. She was mouthing off and moaning incoherently about things she knew he couldn't control. But the biggest giveaway of all was the fact that if she were sober, she'd know that it was currently four o'clock in the morning in Madrid and she would have left him sleeping, but as it was she was evidently drunk and moaning down the phone at him. "Yes, gorgeous, you're drunk. How much have you had?"

Haley pouted, wanting to fight back with him but knowing that she shouldn't, so she reigned in her anger and instead took a calming breath. "I don't know." She answered quietly.

Nathan couldn't help but chuckle. "I was expecting a bit of backlash from you, Hales. Why is it that you're only a good drunk when I'm out of town?" He asked playfully. "Usually I'm the one that has to save your ass from one thing or another."

Haley gasped audibly. "Nathan, that is so not the case!"

"I think it is, Hales. What about that time at college when you decided you wanted to do a pole dance on one of the street lights right outside that club? Who managed to stop you before things got too out of hand? Or the time when you thought it would be a good idea to dig a hole in the middle of the football pitch so you could bury your shoe?" Nathan returned, unable to keep the smile off his face at the memories that were currently running through his mind.

Haley scowled even though she knew that he wouldn't be able to see her. "Those were both a long time ago." She said nonchalantly, even though inside she was angry that he had chosen to bring them up. What point was he trying to prove again?

"Oh so you want something more recent then?" Nathan said with a smirk on his face. "How about a couple of months ago when you got so wasted you decided to pick a fight with that huge guy over nothing and I had to haul your ass away before things turned ugly?"

"He slapped my ass!" Haley returned incredulously.

"I'm sure he did, Hales." Nathan responded, and then chose to steer the conversation away from this memory because he knew how Haley got when she was like this and she would drone on and on about it for another hour at least before he'd manage to get her to stop yakking, only Haley interrupted him before he had a chance to say anything more.

"Anyway." Haley started, interrupting Nathan before he had a chance to commentate on that night's events even more, which was something he seemed to enjoy doing at her expense and only led to her defending herself until she was blue in the face. "That doesn't matter now, does it?"

Nathan was surprised that she was being cooperative for once, instead of repeating herself five thousand times. "No, you're right, it doesn't matter now. But seriously, Hales, how much have you had to drink?" He asked.

"I honestly have no idea, Brooke decided to buy, or rather Jake inadvertently bought, a tray full of sambuca shots, and then I had a load of vodkas and cokes... I didn't keep count." Haley answered him honestly.

"And where are you now?" Nathan questioned.

"In a cab, just on the way home." Haley responded.

"Have fun at the bar?" Nathan asked.

"No. I just missed you mostly." Haley answered honestly.

Nathan sighed heavily. "I miss you too, gorgeous."

"Was there really no way you could have come home this weekend?" Haley asked quietly. She wasn't really sure why she was asking this again, because she knew deep down that if there had been a possibility of him being able to come home, that he would have taken it, but still, she felt sad that he wasn't here with her, and nor was he going to be there tomorrow or Sunday either.

"Gorgeous, we've been through this and I told you, if I could be there with you, I would be, but you know how important this client is, you've seen how many hours I've put in and I can't just throw the towel in now, not after all the effort I've put into this project, despite how much I hate not being with you." Nathan explained, hoping that she would understand that it was purely about work, not about her in the slightest.

Haley felt the cab draw to a halt outside the apartment. "Hold on." She said and then grabbed some money from her purse to pay the driver, before she walked on inside, calling the elevator. "Sorry, just had to pay the driver."

"So do you understand that if I could be, I'd be there?" Nathan asked, continuing their conversation because he really needed to get some more sleep.

"I know that, of course I know that." Haley said as she stepped into the waiting elevator and pressed the button for the floor which housed their apartment.

Nathan yawned and stretched in his bed. "Good." He said, pleased that she understood him.

Haley wandered over to the apartment once the lift doors had opened on their floor. "I just don't like being on my own." She said softly, dreading, in her intoxicated state, walking into the apartment and knowing that it would be empty; much like it would be for the entire weekend.

Nathan hated how vulnerable she sounded; it sent this ache right to the centre of his chest. But there was nothing he could do about it from Madrid, which he completely despised. "I know gorgeous, but I'll be home before you know it." He heard the door click through the phone, indicating that she'd made it in to the apartment. "Just go to bed, gorgeous, and I'll call you tomorrow. At least that way it'll be one less day until I come home, yeah?"

"Yeah." Haley sighed as she kicked off her shoes and swayed down the hallway towards her room. "Promise you'll call tomorrow?"

"I promise. Sleep tight, gorgeous." Nathan responded.

"You too." Haley said and then hung up her phone. She crawled into bed, not even bothering to take off her makeup or change her clothes and hugged her pillow as she drifted off to sleep, wishing that she was hugging her best friend instead.

~*~

Haley flopped herself down on the sofa in the living room, feeling utterly exhausted. She stared at the clock on the far wall and wondered how time could possibly move so slowly. She'd already cleaned the apartment from top to bottom, changed both her and Nathan's bedding, washed a huge pile of clothes, been to the gym and done the grocery shopping for the following week. She'd bought enough food to feed both her and Nathan because she was still clinging onto the hope that he'd be home early on in the week, instead of having to stay out in Madrid for another week in its entirety, which for Haley didn't bear thinking about. She'd be so bored and so lonely if that were the case she'd probably end up driving herself crazy.

Picking up her phone from the coffee table, she tired Nathan's number and just like the other twenty or so times she had tried to call him today, the call went straight through to his voicemail. She couldn't believe that he'd turned his phone off, it really irritated her because although she knew that he was busy with work, it was still the weekend and she thought it was incredibly rude of him to ignore her all day. Was she really that much of a bother to him? Obviously she was, she thought bitterly.

She sighed as she looked around the vacant apartment which felt far too quiet for her liking. Once she worked out how much time she had to kill before Ryan picked her up for the movies, realising that she had a good four hours to whittle away while she waited, she picked up the remote and began to channel hop. How she and Nathan could have all these channels and there not be anything decent on at all completely baffled her, and she soon grew tired of waiting for something to pique her interest, so she pressed the off button and watched as the screen went completely blank, the silence once again filling the entire, empty, lonely space.

She really didn't know what to do with herself. She pondered over doing some baking but the only thing she felt like making were cupcakes, a sort of homage to the fact that Nathan wasn't with her, but they'd be no point in her doing so because there'd be no way that she would be able to eat all of them, so they'd only end up going bad. She didn't feel like primping herself for her cinema trip with Ryan because she didn't want it to feel like a date, and spending hours worrying over her hair, makeup and clothes would make the whole thing feel too weird for her. Jeans and a top would have to do, she was going for casual, and hoped that Ryan would too.

She knew that she was going to end up driving herself crazy if she simply sat there clock watching and so she lifted herself up off the sofa, grabbed her ipod off the coffee table and wandered into the kitchen, plugging the ipod into the sound system Nathan had bought them, placing her phone next to the docking station. She selected her 'Golden Oldies' playlist and smiled when the sound of Diana Ross filled the room. Walking over to the fridge, she selected the ingredients she'd need to make a lasagne, placed them on the counter and got to work while singing along to the classics at the top of her voice.

While she waited for the beef to brown in the frying pan, she tried Nathan's phone once again, rolling her eyes when she heard the familiar, cheery sound of his voicemail. She hated it when she couldn't get through to him; this completely irrational but irritating fear crept through her veins, the worry etching into her mind, wondering if he was safe, if he was okay. She knew, of course, that he was simply busy, but he could at least turn his phone on just to send her a text or something, give her a quick call to let her know that he was fine.

She placed her phone next to where she was working in the kitchen as she began to assemble the lasagne in the dish, layering the beef with the tomato sauce, the pasta and the white sauce, the meticulous task causing some of the worry she held for Nathan to appease slightly. She continued to sing along to her ipod, extremely loudly given that she didn't have Nathan to consider, knowing that he wouldn't come in screaming at her to keep her voice down. He'd always joke that her singing sounded like a cat being strangled, which was charming, because he couldn't hold a damn note in tune. Truth be told, she had a fairly decent voice and she'd always tell him that he was simply jealous of her. She smiled as memories of the banter they shared filtered through her brain, and as comforting as they were, they also served to intensify how much she really did miss him.

Haley methodically layered the white sauce over the top of her last layer of pasta when Let's Twist Again came blaring through the speakers. She squealed and sung along to the music, twisting her hips while she ensured that the white sauce she was spreading over her dish covered all of the pasta. Grabbing the cheese she had grated she sprinkled it over the top and then checked that the oven was set at the right temperature. She carried her dish over to the oven, shaking her hips as she moved and placed it on one of the shelves. Wiping her hands on a tea towel she smiled in satisfaction at a job well done; the lasagne would feed her for a few nights, relinquishing the task of needing to cook something once she got in from work and it had kept her suitably distracted for a good half an hour or so.

Continuing to dance along to the music, she wiped down the counter and started to get really into the dance moves, this time making sure that she twisted right down to the ground and then back up into a standing position, and it was as she stumbled slightly and lost her balance a little bit when she heard someone snicker behind her. Halting her movements abruptly, she felt her heart begin to race in her chest because she was supposed to be alone in the apartment. She briefly contemplated grabbing a knife before she turned around to face whoever was behind her but she couldn't find one in close enough reach. So she turned around, unarmed save for the dishrag in her hands extremely slowly, all the while telling herself how stupid she was being, because the noise she had heard had probably only been her imagination.

Nathan was doing his best to remain quiet and not interrupt Haley's danceathon in the kitchen, and given how loud she had the music blaring, it was pretty easy for him to chuckle quietly to himself as he leant against the doorway and have her not notice him. But when she stumbled as she twisted her hips from the floor to a standing position, really letting herself go, he couldn't help the full on belly laugh that escaped from his mouth, what on earth was she doing?

Haley's mouth literally dropped to the floor when her eyes rested on Nathan. He was standing, casually leaning on the doorframe to the kitchen, obviously laughing at her dancing. He looked impossibly exhausted, his hair was messy, like he'd been running his hands through it constantly for days on end and his eyes looked really tired, but his face was covered with that glorious smile of his. Dressed comfortably in jeans and a blue polo, he looked devastatingly handsome. However, the more she raked her eyes over his dishevelled appearance, the more she couldn't believe that he was standing there in the apartment. Wasn't he supposed to be in Madrid? Wasn't he supposed to be too busy to come and see her? She recalled the conversation she'd had with him during the week when he had definitely confirmed the fact that he wasn't going to be able to come home at the weekend and then also vaguely remembered a slightly drunken phone call to him last night, but he hadn't mentioned the fact that he was coming home, had he? No, although she couldn't really recall all that was discussed last night in detail, she was sure that him telling her he was coming home today would be something that would have definitely stuck in her mind.

Nathan took a couple of deep breaths as he tried to regain control of his breathing, but every time he looked over at Haley, the image of her stumbling as she twisted her hips kept replaying in his head and he couldn't control the bursts of laughter which poured through his lips. "Do you make a habit of dancing around the kitchen like a crazy lady each time you have the house to yourself, gorgeous, or is this just a special occasion?" He asked with a teasing glint in his eyes as the laughter finally started to subside.

Haley knew that he was teasing her but she still couldn't quite believe that he was really here. So she made the conscious decision to ignore his jibe and instead concentrated on the fact that despite what he had told her, despite him saying that it was an impossibility, he was somehow home. "What are you doing here? I thought you said there was no way you'd be able to make it back for the weekend?" She asked in a shocked tone, still unable to hide the amazement from her face and the tone of her voice, even though she'd been staring right at him for a good couple of minutes now.

Nathan smiled over at her and shook his head at her softly, recalling the conversation they'd had last night. "Do you remember calling me last night?" He asked and then raised his eyebrow at her in accusation, because given that she'd been drinking, and quite heavily it seemed, he wouldn't be surprised if she didn't remember it at all.

Haley rolled her eyes at him. "Don't give me that look, Nathan. I know I'd been drinking but I still remember speaking to you." She returned with a hint of determined defiance in her voice.

"Oh so you realised that when you called me it was four o'clock in the morning in Madrid then, yet you still called?" Nathan responded cheekily as he crossed his arms over his chest.

Haley scoffed at him and her mouth dropped open in disbelief. "I did not call you at four o'clock in the morning, I'll have you know that I left the bar really early. You were obviously disorientated at being woken up so suddenly or something."

"Hales, trust me, it was four o'clock in the morning when you called." Nathan returned.

"No it wasn't! I wouldn't have called you if I'd have known that it was that early." Haley responded.

"But you were drunk, so how would you have realised that it was so early?" Nathan said in a teasing tone.

"For goodness sake, I wasn't drunk!" Haley said, quickly losing her patience with him because he'd just flown back to see her and they were already disagreeing with each other. However, she knew a sure fire way to sort this out. She reached over and grabbed her phone from the countertop and scrolled to her call log. "Look, I'll prove to you that it wasn't that early." She stuck her tongue out of the corner of her mouth in concentration as she scrolled through the calls she had already made to Nathan that day, searching for the call she made to him last night.

Nathan couldn't help the smirk that played on his lips as he watched her concentrate on her phone. "You got a lot of calls to scroll through, huh?" He teased, unable to resist the cheap shot. Once he had landed in New York and turned his phone on, he had been hit with what felt like thousands of alerts telling him about the missed calls that he'd had while his phone had been turned off during the flight. All of them had been from Haley.

Haley lifted her eyes from her phone and scowled at him. "Shut up." She muttered and then went back to concentrating on her phone. "Aha! Found it, look see, I called you at ten o'clock last night, so it wasn't four o'clock in Madrid."

Nathan uncrossed his arms and stared at the phone Haley had thrust in his face, seeing that she had indeed called him at ten o'clock last night, which was something he already knew anyway. "And how many hours ahead of us is Madrid?" Nathan asked.

"I don't know." Haley shrugged and then pulled her phone back towards herself, smiling in triumph as she closed the screen and then placed her phone on the countertop again, leaning back against it with a grin on her face, feeling incredibly smug that she'd won this one. She didn't understand why Nathan's face was mirroring her expression though, what did he have to be so conceited about? He'd been wrong.

"There's a six hour time difference between New York and Madrid, Hales. So if you called me at ten o'clock New York time, what time does that make it in Madrid?" Nathan asked.

Haley mentally did the maths and brought her hand up to cover her mouth as she gasped, realising that Nathan had been right and she really had called him at four o'clock in the morning. "Oh my gosh! Nathan I am so sorry, I really didn't think they were that far ahead of us." She replied sheepishly.

"Oh because of course, waking me up at any time before four o'clock in the morning is acceptable, right?" Nathan returned cheekily.

"No, of course not… I…" Haley stuttered as she tried to come up with an explanation for her actions last night, but of course, the only one she could come up with was the fact that she had been drunk. "I guess I just missed you, that's all." She looked up at him from under her eyelashes, hoping that she at least appeared to be innocent.

"No, gorgeous, you were drunk." Nathan corrected.

Haley bit down on her lip as she shuffled from foot to foot, trying to think of a possible way for her to talk herself out of this one. However, she soon realised that it was completely pointless of her to do so because Nathan knew her too well, and of course he'd be able to tell when she'd had too much to drink, that was one of the privileges of being a best friend. So instead she decided to change the subject, instead of dwell on her drunkenness for a second longer than was necessary. "So why are you here?" She asked.

"Well after you so very rudely woke me up in your drunken state, I couldn't get back to sleep and so decided to head to the airport to catch a flight back to New York, just so that I could tease you endlessly about it." Nathan responded with a smirk.

Haley sighed and shook her head at him, a smile playing at the corners of her mouth. "So you flew God knows how many miles just so that you could tease me about my drinking?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Well that and after nearly a week of room service I was really craving some of your delicious cooking, and maybe a cupcake?" Nathan asked with a wide grin on his face. "And speaking of your amazing skills in the kitchen, that lasagne smells great, when's it ready?"

"Well I haven't baked you any cupcakes, and after all your teasing I'm not going to either, but the lasagne should be ready in about twenty minutes." Haley returned with a smile, knowing that he was only playing with her. She pushed herself off the counter and walked over to where Nathan was still standing against the doorframe. She wrapped her hands around his back and squeezed him into her body, breathing in the familiar and welcome scent of him. She felt his arms wrap around her waist as he pulled her in closer to him and she felt him place a soft kiss on the top of her head. She closed her eyes for a brief second, revelling in having him here with her. "Why did you come home early?"

Nathan rested his chin on the top of her head, unable to help the smile that covered his face as he squished Haley into his body. He had known that he had missed her but coming home and simply being in her presence solidified just how much she meant to him, and also how much he hated spending time away from her. If he had any control over it, he wouldn't go away on business ever again, but the reality of the situation was that he wanted to progress in the company he worked at, so that he could do things like buy a bigger place and give Haley all that she deserved throughout her life. And in wanting to accomplish those things, travel with work would be a necessity, no matter how much he didn't like it. "You whined." He returned cheekily.

Haley whacked Nathan playfully on the back. "I don't whine, Nathan." She mumbled into his chest.

"Trust me Hales, when you're drunk, you whine constantly. In fact, when you're sober, you whine too." Nathan teased.

"Nathan, stop lying!" Haley said as the smile spread across her face again. "And don't say things like that, I'm not a whiner!"

"Sorry, gorgeous." Nathan muttered softly as he placed another lingering kiss on the top of Haley's head, closing his eyes as he inhaled the scent of her shampoo. "I came home because I missed you. A lot."

Haley pulled herself away from Nathan slightly so that she could look up and see his face. She smiled as her eyes met his deep, blue ones and then she moved herself back into the comfort and safety of his embrace. "I'm glad you're home." She said softly into his polo shirt.

"Me too." Nathan whispered. Although he was completely shattered from jetlag and working his ass off on the plane so that he would be able to spend some quality time with Haley the rest of the day, and the fact that on Monday he'd be absolutely kicking himself for his impromptu trip home, as he stood in the kitchen, with his arms wrapped securely around his best friend, he knew that it had been worth it. Seeing her beaming smile and feeling her arms around him made everything worthwhile and meaningful. He snapped himself out of his musings and glanced around the kitchen, noting the washing up that was piled in the sink and the ingredients left on the counter which she'd yet to put away. "There are seriously no cupcakes though?"

Haley couldn't help her eye roll as she unwrapped herself from Nathan's embrace. "If you'd actually picked up your phone and let me know that you were coming I'd have baked some for you." She said with a raised eyebrow.

"Ah yes, but if I'd have called, I wouldn't have been privy to your spectacular dance moves now would I?" Nathan teased as he watched Haley walk back over to the other side of the kitchen, presumably so she could begin to clear away the ingredients.

Haley halted her movements and turned around quickly, scowling at Nathan. "I swear to God if you mention that to anybody, and I mean anybody, I'll… I don't know what I'll do but you won't like it, I can promise you that." Haley said seriously as she waggled her finger in his direction, hoping that she sounded stern enough for him to realise that she meant business.

Nathan chuckled at her, because really she looked ridiculous, but he knew that she had stuff on him that no one else in the world knew about, and if he spoke even a word of this to anyone she'd retaliate with something equally as embarrassing. He knew when to mess with her and when to draw the line. He held his hands up in front of himself in mock surrender. "Don't worry gorgeous, your secrets are safe with me." He returned.

Haley eyed him suspiciously but she knew he meant what he said. "Good." She responded and then gathered up the ingredients from the counter and walked over to the fridge.

Nathan could see that she didn't have enough hands free to open the fridge door and so he quickly walked over to it and opened the door for her. He then took the ingredients from her hands and placed them back in the fridge. "So what do you feel like doing tonight then gorgeous?" He asked once all the cheese and fresh pasta sheets had been placed on the correct shelves in the fridge. He turned around and raised an eyebrow at her as she nodded her head in approval at him for placing things back in the fridge properly. He couldn't help but smirk at her, she was quirky like that, everything had its proper place. "We could go out for some drinks, go out for dinner, go and see a movie... whatever you want."

It was only in that moment that Haley realised that she had completely forgotten about her evening she had planned with Ryan. She mentally scolded herself for forgetting about it so easily and silently thanked Nathan for bringing up a trip to the movies because she'd have ended up forgetting about what she had planned with Ryan entirely otherwise. She pondered over what she should do. Should she text Ryan and cancel, or should she tell Nathan that she had plans; after all, he had told her to make some, hadn't he? She knew that Nathan had to be knackered after his flight and so he'd probably go to bed really early anyway. "Well we could always do the cinema tomorrow night?" Haley asked tentatively.

Nathan shook his head at her. "Sorry gorgeous, no can do. I'm on the first flight back to Madrid tomorrow morning."

"What?" Haley asked, wondering what he was going on about. He was going back?

"I'm just here for the night, then I need to head back and I'll be home on Wednesday." Nathan clarified.

Haley found this completely bizarre; he'd only flown home for the night? Why would he do that? She knew, without question that she couldn't go out with Ryan now, not when Nathan was home for just one night. She'd have to text Ryan and cancel, otherwise he'd be buzzing up to the apartment at seven o'clock and Nathan would no doubt wonder what the hell is going on. She felt slightly bad at having to cancel on him, but she couldn't not see Nathan after he'd flown all this way to see her, could she? And more than that, she wanted to be with Nathan tonight, not Ryan.

Nathan watched Haley carefully as she pondered over what he had just told her, wondering why she looked so confused. "Gorgeous?" He said, hoping to get her attention and snap her out of her daydream. "Is everything okay?"

Haley shook her head free of her musings and moved her eyes back over to Nathan, offering him a beaming smile. "Yeah everything's good. Just thinking about what we're going to do tonight, that's all." She said, making a mental note to remind herself to text Ryan once Nathan left the kitchen, she didn't want to do it while he was in her presence; she didn't want to offer him the opportunity to ask her questions about Ryan if she could help it. She had this weird feeling in the pit of her stomach which she tried desperately to push away but the more she tried to ignore it, the more prominent it became. She told herself that she was being incredibly stupid, because how could she feel guilty about spending time with Ryan? Sure, she felt a little bit bad that she still hadn't told Nathan about the fact that she was training for a marathon but the guilt that was creeping up inside of was about something more than that. It was ridiculous, because she actually felt guilty about spending time with another man, she realised. She was partly shocked at her feelings because she was free to spend time with who she wanted, wasn't she? She wasn't tied to Nathan in any way at all. But if that really was the case, then why was she feeling this way?

"So what do you want to do?" Nathan asked. He waited for her to answer him but as he continued to look at her he grew incredibly puzzled at how distant and distracted she seemed, she looked like she was trying to conquer some huge conundrum or something, not like she was trying to figure out what they should do tonight as he'd asked. "Hales?" He waited until he had her full attention once more before continuing. "Are you sure everything's okay? You spaced out a little there."

Haley blinked rapidly a few times, trying very hard to push her thoughts into the backs of her mind. Now was not the time for her to start dissecting her relationship with Nathan and her feelings over seeing other guys. She caught a whiff of the lasagne cooking in the oven and decided to go and check on it. Seeing that it still needed a couple of minutes, she closed the oven door and leaned against the counter, realising that Nathan was trying to have a conversation with her about what they were going to do tonight. She moved her eyes over his frame once again and noted how tired he seemed. "You must be so tired, Nathan, why don't we just eat the lasagne and have a quiet night in tonight? Maybe have a movie marathon or something?" She said, smiling over at him.

"If you want to go out gorgeous, I don't mind, I can sleep on the flight back tomorrow if I need to." Nathan responded, not wanting to forgo a night out with Haley if that was what she really wanted them to do tonight.

"No, I don't particularly want to go anywhere, to be honest." Haley replied. "I got a couple of really good bottles of wine in the fridge that I picked up earlier which we could drink."

Nathan chuckled at her. "Are you sure you want to drink two nights in a row?" He teased.

Haley narrowed her eyes at him but laughed along with him this time. "I'm pretty sure I can handle a glass or two this evening."

"Well then, lasagne, wine and some movies sounds like a great idea." Nathan said, and then ran his hand through his hair. "I'm going to take a quick shower and freshen up."

"Okay, I'll make a start on the washing up. Are you hungry now or do you want to eat later?" Haley called out to Nathan's retreating form.

Nathan turned his head over his shoulder and smirked at Haley. "Gorgeous, I'm starving."

Haley smiled back at him and rolled her eyes. "You always are." She said and then walked over to the sink so that she could make a start on the dirty pots and pans she'd used to make the lasagne. Once she heard the door to the bathroom close, she grabbed her phone and sent a quick text to Ryan, letting him know that something had come up and so she couldn't go out with him tonight. She still felt that pang of guilt residing inside of her as she thought about actually going out with Ryan and not Nathan, but she quickly pushed those feelings aside and concentrated on the washing up.

~*~

One and three quarter films, one nearly finished lasagne and one and a half bottles of wine later, Haley lay against the arm of the couch with her feet resting in Nathan's lap. She sipped on her wine glass as Nathan massaged her feet, not really paying attention to the film he seemed so engrossed in because she was still mulling over and analysing her feelings. She hated it when she got like this, she would completely dissect everything until she couldn't think straight and often in the process she wound up being even more frustrated with herself than she had been in the first place. She sighed softly to herself, wishing that she could simply just switch off completely but she knew any attempts to do just that would be completely futile.

Why was it that as soon as Nathan came home, she instantly felt like she had cheated on him by agreeing to go out with Ryan? If she was being completely honest with herself, she'd actually felt a bit weird about the whole thing when Ryan had simply asked her to spend some time with him outside of training. She didn't understand these feelings at all, because to her, they were completely irrational. Nathan was her best friend, not her boyfriend, so why the hell was she thinking as if he were? She didn't like these thoughts at all, because they went against absolutely every rule of friendship that had ever been written.

She studied him closely, trying to work out what had happened, trying to pinpoint exactly why she was feeling this way so suddenly but ended up feeling incredibly frustrated with herself when she couldn't come up with an answer. She ran her eyes over his form, noting that, yes, he was good looking, but she'd always felt that way about him, she'd always known that he was handsome. So that was nothing new. Not in the slightest.

Her eyes ran over his face and she noticed the slight stubble covering his neck and chin because he'd not bothered to shave when he woke up this morning which added this manliness to him, and she was faintly but not wholly surprised to note that she found it appealing, sexy even. The way he chuckled quietly to himself at the film was something she found endearing, because she loved his laugh, she always had. When Nathan was happy, she was happy. Only she was also incredibly aggravated at the moment too but on the whole, she was happy, of course she was, he was here with her. Then there was the way the tight, white t-shirt he'd changed into after his shower clung to his body. But again, he'd always had a pretty good body, so yet again, that wasn't anything new. But the desire that was pooling in the pit of her stomach, the yearning to slip her hands underneath it and run her fingers over his toned abs and chest was certainly something new, and something quite unexpected. And if she was being honest with herself, she wasn't too sure if she liked these new feelings one bit, purely for the fact that they were incredibly dangerous.

Nathan continued to absently run his hands over Haley's feet which were resting in his lap. He was incredibly tired, all the travelling had left him feeling utterly exhausted, but the film they were watching was really funny and so was offering a nice distraction to the other alternative, which at this point would have simply been to sleep. But he was enjoying spending time with Haley, just doing something normal with her after being apart from her for a week. His fingers began to trace a line right over the top of her foot and he slipped his fingers just underneath the bottom of her jeans so that his fingers were on her ankle. He felt her jerk a little in surprise from his touch, and he knew that he'd tickled her a little, but he kept his fingers there, tracing idle circles over her soft skin.

Now that Haley had acknowledged that she felt this desire inside of her, instead of it being this dull, flickering flame, it suddenly ignited to full capacity and completely overwhelmed her. The lust which ran through her veins was so overpowering, she was helpless to feel any other emotion at all. All of her senses seemed to be heightened in that moment, she could smell the enticing scent of his aftershave, she could hear his sexy chuckle and she could feel his fingers tracing over her ankle, and she wished in that moment that she wasn't wearing jeans, just so that his fingers could itch higher on her leg, she wished that his hands would trace right up her leg until he was touching her where she needed him to, so that he could suppress that dull ache which was beginning to form in her stomach. The fact that it was a Saturday night was something that wasn't escaping her notice either.

Nathan was fighting with his exhaustion, paying extra attention to the movie in an effort to keep himself awake. Given that he'd travelled so far to spend time with his best friend he really didn't want to waste a second that he didn't have to by doing something as trivial as sleeping. He concentrated so hard on the film, and kept his hand busy playing with Haley's foot which seemed to help him fight off the need to sleep. He lay his other hand on her knee and began to lightly move his hands over her jeans, keeping his hands and his mind busy seemed to do just the trick.

Haley knew that she should be ignoring these feelings, she knew that she should be strong enough to be able to simply push them aside and not dwell on them for any longer than she was, but when she felt Nathan's other hand rest on her knee and begin to trace patterns through her jeans, the lust she was feeling seemed to overflow from her core and pour out through her veins, clouding her thoughts and her judgements. In that moment, all she could see was Nathan, and all she could feel was Nathan and the need to be with him. She tried once more to reconcile these feelings, wondering if perhaps it was because she'd been alone all week, perhaps it was simply because she'd missed him and suddenly, him being here was slightly overwhelming. She wanted to believe that she could put these unexpected feelings down to those reasons, but deep down inside of herself, she knew that it was more than that, and she wanted to feel scared, she wanted to berate herself for feeling this way, but lust won out over any feelings she had of compassion, worry or concern.

Nathan stifled a yawn but couldn't help the need to stretch, so he arched his back up off the sofa and instantly felt better now that he'd had a chance to iron out his back. He moved his hand from Haley's knee, keeping his other hand just underneath her jeans as he continued to trace circles on her skin and ran his hand through his hair. He let out another deep chuckle at something funny one of the dudes in the film had said and then reached his hand around to the back of his neck, rubbing the skin there idly.

It was the flash of his stomach that did it. That toned, tanned stomach, with the little trail of hair which disappeared under his grey lounge pants was far too much of a temptation for Haley to withstand. She lifted her wine glass to her mouth and finished it off, glancing up at Nathan from underneath her eyelashes as she did so, trying to gauge his reaction, trying to search for that need which he surely had to feel too, because to her, the electricity was crackling through the air, the tension, desire and longing was far too palpable. But as she searched his face, she saw no trace of anything she was feeling, she simply saw an extremely good looking man who was far too interested in the film he was watching for her liking. Evidently she was going to have to initiate their Saturday night rendezvous tonight, which was perfect for what she wanted to try to tick off the list anyway.

Before Nathan even had a chance to process what was going on, he found that Haley had literally pounced on him and was now straddling his lap, facing him with a look of pure, unadulterated lust on her face. He didn't quite know what she was doing, why she was looking at him like that and his expression must have mirrored that shock, especially when she shifted on him and began to run her fingernails over his stomach, because she bit down on her lip and glanced away from him coyly.

Haley could see that Nathan was confused, it was written all over his face. She bit down on her lip and glanced away from him as she ran her fingernails underneath his plain, cotton t-shirt and then, as she began to trace through the hollows of his defined muscles, she glanced back at him. He still hadn't got it, and was looking at her like she was crazy, and in a way, she found it cute, funny even, that she was as horny as a teenage boy who'd just snuck into the girls changing rooms and he looked equally placid and perplexed at her behaviour. She felt this rush of boldness sweep through her veins, especially when the image of her riding Nathan popped into her head and she couldn't help the soft moan that escaped through her lips. She leaned down towards him, inhaling the intoxicating and sexy scent of his aftershave which sent a wave of desire through her entire body, and once she got to the side of his neck she licked a path right up to his ear. "It's Saturday." She whispered hotly in his ear, and then grabbed his earlobe between her teeth, tugging on it gently, eliciting this groan to come from deep inside of him, the noise sending shivers right down her spine.

All of a sudden, everything seemed to click inside Nathan's head. Of course it was Saturday, why hadn't that fact registered with him before? He felt Haley tug on his earlobe and he let out a groan as his hands moved of their own accord to her back, seeking out the soft feel of her skin, gently nudging her tank top up a little so that he had no material blocking his touch from her body. He softly ran his fingers over her skin, revelling in the feeling of her moving her mouth back down his neck, licking, sucking and kissing her way towards his throat before giving the other side equal treatment. He noticed that her movements became more forceful with each second that passed, until she was biting down on his neck, causing this rush of desire to sweep through his body, claiming all of his thoughts, making him want and need only her.

Haley felt Nathan's fingers respond to the forcefulness of her mouth on his neck, the more needy her kisses became, the more frantic his touch on her back was. His hands were edging up towards her bra strap, causing her top to bunch up and she couldn't help the fact that her hips started to grind into his, because she had this throbbing ache between her thighs and she desperately needed to find some friction from somewhere.

As soon as Haley started to push her hips into his, Nathan's cock sprung to life. He could feel it pushing against his lounge pants, and with each pass, with each rub of Haley's, it grew harder still. His hands continued to move underneath her top all over her back, so frantically he almost began to claw onto her skin but he didn't know what he was trying to grip onto, he didn't know what he needed, what he wanted, except for her, because every thought in his mind had become incredibly hazy.

Haley felt Nathan's hands move around her sides and slip up until he was touching her breasts. He ran both of his hands over the cups of her bra before she felt him lower them so that he had exposed her breasts. She continued to move her mouth over his neck, feeling his stubble scratch against her mouth, but she enjoyed the feeling of his roughness, she enjoyed the manliness and sexiness of it. His fingers ran softly over the tops of her hardened nipples and then he pinched them between his fingers, causing her to left out a deep moan into his neck and buck her hips against him more forcefully.

"God, Hales." Nathan groaned. The feel of her rubbing herself against his hard cock was proving to be too much for him to take and coupled with the feeling of her mouth moving frantically along his neck, up towards his ear, gripping onto his earlobe, her tongue running back down towards his pulse point, it was all starting to make him feel dizzy. He was getting frustrated with the limitations her bra and top were causing him also, because he desperately wanted to see her and the material was blocking what he knew to be a fabulous view. So he moved his hands from her breasts and trailed his fingers around to her back, making quick work of unclasping her bra and then he grabbed onto the bunched up material and pulled it up over her head throwing the top and her bra to the floor, exposing her beautiful body to him.

Haley watched as Nathan's eyes feasted on the sight of her breasts and seeing the wistful, hungry look on his face only caused her to become even more turned on. She continued to rock her hips over his cock, the wetness pooling in her panties and in that moment she craved him like she had never craved anything before in her entire life. She reached down and gripped onto his t-shirt, pulling it up, exposing his well defined chest and once she had thrown it down onto the floor, she licked her lips in anticipation, her eyes appreciatively moving down his chest, to his abs before resting on that happy trail. God, did she want him.

Nathan lifted himself up from leaning against the back of the sofa, pushing Haley's chest into his own, the longing he felt for her increasing to exponential levels when he felt her nipples touch his chest. He ran his hands possessively over her back, pushing her into him even further as she resumed the rocking of her hips. His mouth moved hungrily over her neck, his tongue running languorously over her pulse point before he made it up to her ear. She was continuing to rock against him, causing this unbelievable friction which was just enough and not enough all at the same time. The desire he felt rush through his veins to consume, to take, to give was so strong, so reverent, it almost felt unbearable. Once his mouth moved up towards her ear, he sucked on the skin just below it and then pulled his mouth away before blowing softly on her skin, smirking to himself when he felt her shudder. "What are you thinking?" He said gutturally in her ear, wanting her to choose what happened tonight, because she seemed to have done a rather excellent job of initiating their escapades this evening as it was.

Haley ran her hands up Nathan's back and then threaded them through his hair, tugging his head slightly until he pulled back and looked at her. She could see the desire in his eyes, the hunger and need which she was sure was reflected right back at him through her own. The fact that she could see that he wanted her, the fact that he seemed to crave her as much as she did him sent this wave of a feeling she couldn't quite put her finger on through her body. However, the fleeting thought soon evaded her as she felt Nathan thrust his hips up harshly into her just as she began to rock herself over his cock, causing the denim of her jeans to push into her and rub right over her clit. "Nathan." She moaned throatily, her breathing suddenly becoming much sharper and more laboured than it had been, the anticipation of what was to come sending a shiver right through her entire body.

God, the friction, the relief Nathan felt was simply amazing, and when he felt Haley's fingers tighten and pull on his hair, the pain mixed in with the pleasure he felt rushing through him fuelled him on. He did it again, thrusting his hips harshly against her, his cock rubbing right where he knew she'd be aching and throbbing for him. The thought of her feeling that way, the thought of her initiating activities with him because she needed and wanted him sent this possessive shiver through his body, and as a result of feeling her heat against him, as a result of all of this, he brought his hands down her back and trailed them along the waistband of her jeans until he reached the buttons, popping them open and then slipped his hand inside her underwear, seeking out that sweet spot which he knew would cause her to come completely undone.

Haley was turned on to the point of it being utterly ridiculous, and as soon as Nathan's finger grazed over her clit, she heard this moan escape from between her lips partly in relief, partly in need of more. She began to rock her hips against his hand, feeling his finger move right over her clit, the sensation causing the pleasure to build with each pass. She released the grip her hands had of his hair and began to rake her fingernails over his scalp and down to the nape of his neck, moaning softly as the pleasure continued to grow deep inside of her body. "Oh God, that feels good." She moaned, unable to stop herself from vocalising just how good he was making her feel.

Nathan found himself completely enchanted by Haley's face. He continued to move his fingers over her clit and the awkward angle his hand needed to be bent in so that he could touch her there meant that his arm was starting to ache tremendously but he honestly didn't care in the slightest because he was drawing so much personal pleasure in watching her come undone before him. He could feel how turned on she was, he could see how turned on she was and he could hear how turned on she was. And this all only led to him feeling completely and utterly full of desire and craving for her. The only thing that was stopping him from tearing their clothes off their bodies and burying his cock deep inside of her right in that very second was the promise of being able to watch her come for him, which, if he knew her body as he thought, she wasn't far from doing in the slightest. He slipped one of his fingers down into her folds and found her to be completely soaked, which caused a deep groan to rise from his chest. "You're so wet." He said, and then licked his lips as his eyes moved down her body, coming to rest on her breasts. He reached his free hand up and began to twist her nipple between his fingers, the thought of being able to be inside of her soon causing his cock to twitch inside his boxers and he had to know what she wanted, he had to know what number she wanted to do tonight because if he didn't find out soon the anticipation would kill him, he was sure of it. "What are we ticking off tonight, gorgeous?"

"Hmmm." Haley hummed in pleasure and closed her eyes as she felt Nathan's finger move back up to her clit, and she continued to rock her hips into his hand, craving the release she could feel building inside of her. She opened her eyes and connected her gaze with Nathan's, the intensity of his gaze almost startling her. "I was thinking me on top tonight." She said breathlessly, and instantly felt the speed of Nathan's fingers on her clit increase, causing her hips to buck in response to the additional pressure she felt.

Simply the thought of having Haley ride him was enough to nearly make Nathan come in his boxers, let alone the image that suddenly sprung into his mind. The speed of his fingers and the pressure he was using increased because he knew he needed her to come soon, so that he could then see this thought, this fantasy of his come to fruition. He could feel her body begin to tense under his fingers and he knew she was close. "Come on, gorgeous, come for me." He whispered as he looked right into her hooded brown eyes, and those words were all it took for her to fall over the edge. He watched her eyes close as her body began to shudder, the pleasure of her orgasm consuming her, much like how he planned to consume her within the next couple of minutes. She softly muttered his name as he rode out her orgasm with her, the speed of his fingers slowing down as she then leaned forward and rested her forehead against his, her body continuing to shake, her breaths deep and laboured as he removed his hands from her panties.

Haley hadn't even had enough time to calm her breathing down when she felt Nathan lift them both up off the sofa. She yelped, wondering what he was doing but as he walked them towards her bedroom, she realised that he was simply continuing their evening. She locked her ankles together at the base of his back, looking into his eyes which seemed wild with longing and need, causing her to ache and yearn for him to be inside of her. Once they made it into her bedroom, she unhooked her legs and felt Nathan lower her down to the bed. She watched as he lowered his lounge pants and boxers, her eyes feasting over his cock and she then removed her own jeans and panties, throwing them to the floor beside the bed.

Nathan lowered himself on to the bed and stretched himself out, rolling onto his side when he felt Haley lay down with him. He smiled at her, the urgency that had been coursing through his veins earlier had somehow gone, and as he reached up and placed a lock of her hair behind her ear, he felt this rush of emotion run right through his body. But as he looked at Haley, he could still see the fire burning wildly in her eyes.

Haley felt Nathan's finger linger behind her ear and then softly trace a trail right down over her shoulder until he reached her breast. She shuddered as she felt his finger trace around her nipple, causing them to harden. She brought her hands up and pushed his chest, causing him to roll flat onto his back because she couldn't wait for him to be inside of her for a second longer, she was utterly desperate for him.

Nathan had to stifle a grown as he watched Haley climb over him, settling herself once she was straddling his waist. He watched through hooded eyes as she leaned down, resting her hands on the mattress beside his body and placed kisses on his chest, her hair tumbling over his body, causing his skin to tickle each time she moved her head. She traced her tongue around his nipple, causing him to push his hips up in an attempt to create some much needed friction and then she continued to leave a trail of hot, wet kisses right down to his stomach. "Gorgeous, please." He muttered, needing to be inside of her, unable to cope with his cock being so close to where it longed to be for even a moment longer than was absolutely necessary.

Haley lifted herself up from his chest and brought herself to an upright position. His words continued to reverberate inside of her, his need for her so apparent and so evident it made her feel empowered almost. However, much like him, she desperately wanted him inside of her, and she couldn't face teasing him because she knew it would only end up frustrating her just as much as it would him. So she reached her hand down and gripped onto his rock hard cock, pumping her enclosed fist up and down it a couple of times, hearing Nathan hiss at her in the process, before she moved his cock towards her entrance, and then slowly sunk herself onto him, marvelling at how wonderfully he filled her, at how satisfied she felt at having him inside of her. She couldn't really explain the feeling, it just simply felt right.

God she was so tight yet Nathan seemed to fit her so perfectly. He groaned when he felt her lift up off him cautiously, as if she were testing the new sensation of her being on top of him, instead of him being in control like all the previous times they'd had sex. He watched her face as she then lowered herself back down onto him, a breathy moan falling from her lips. She'd never looked sexier and Nathan had never felt more aroused, had never felt more turned on that he did in that moment. The reality of having Haley on top was so much better than he could have ever possibly imagined. And as she rose off him again, he lowered his eyes back down her beautiful body to where they were joined and groaned at the sight of his cock disappearing deep inside of her.

Haley lifted herself up off Nathan once more, trying to get her hips to move in a more regular rhythm. Her eyes were trained on Nathan, who seemed to be wholly engrossed in watching her ride him, which made her feel really sexy because the look of wonder and pleasure that was spread over his face was something that made her feel really good. Finding a steady rhythm, she continued to roll her hips, each movement causing his cock to move in and out of her. The feeling of being in control, of his cock delving deep inside of her caused a wave of pleasure to flow through her body and she continued to roll her hips while her eyes devoured the vision of Nathan laying underneath her, watching the quick rise and fall of his chest, the way he licked his lips, the way he groaned each time she lowered herself back down onto him, she could feel the pleasure rising from deep inside of her all over again.

Once Haley settled into a more steady rhythm, Nathan moved his hands up to rest them on her hips, helping her to keep the pace. He began to thrust his hips up to meet her when she lowered herself down onto him which caused this shudder to run right through her body and he knew that she was close. He was slightly relieved at this because watching her sitting on him like she was meant that he didn't have a hope in hell of lasting for long at all. Suddenly having a light bulb moment, he reached his hand over to grab one of hers and then trailed their joined hands down her stomach. He continued to guide her hips with his other hand, lowering and rising her down onto him as he thrust his hips up to meet her while he lowered their hands down towards where they were joined. He glanced up when he felt her hand tense in his and he could see the apprehension in Haley's eyes but when he offered her a small smile, she seemed to acquiesce as her hand no longer tensed up and became more relaxed. This was what he loved about her, the willingness to trust him even when she had no idea what he was about to do, it simply showed how much they meant to each other because he also implicitly and unquestionably trusted her too.

When Haley felt their joined hands land on her clit, she realised what Nathan wanted them to do. She felt slightly embarrassed but as he started to move both of their hands over her, she quickly forgot that feeling as the pleasure she was experiencing completely overrode any other emotion she could possibly feel in that moment. After a while she felt Nathan's hand move back to her hips, helping her to increase the pace slightly and keep it there, and she continued to move her hand over her clit, closing her eyes and surrendering to the building sensations which seemed so overpowering she knew she was helpless to stop them from erupting.

Watching Haley touch herself, while she was riding him had to be the hottest thing Nathan had ever seen in his entire life. "You feel so good, you know that Haley?" He muttered through his laboured breathing, his fingers digging into the flesh of her hip in an effort to control himself for just a while longer. He felt Haley increase the pace some more, to almost frantic levels and as he heard her moans of pleasure, he grunted in response, fighting with himself to hold off, to not come until he felt her inner walls clench around his cock as he knew they would. He just hoped it was soon.

Haley was struggling with her breathing and as she continued to move her finger over her clit and felt Nathan's cock move deep inside of her, she suddenly was overwhelmed with the tingly sensation as her body convulsed and shuddered, the force of her orgasm hitting her strongly. "God, Nathan." She cried out as she felt him continue to thrust his cock into her, each time more desperate and frantic than the last as he searched for his own release, her inner walls clenching around his cock sporadically like she didn't want to let him go. And she didn't. She wanted to hold on to this feeling for as long as she could. With a rough, guttural groan falling from his lips, she felt Nathan's cock begin to twitch inside of her, and he stilled his movements, his hands digging into her hips as his face contorted in pleasure while he released deep inside of her body.

Nathan felt Haley lift herself off him and she settled down beside him on the mattress. His breathing was still incredibly laboured and his heart was beating frantically in his chest, so loudly in fact, that he was sure she could hear it. After a few minutes had passed, the mattress shifted beside him and he felt Haley roll onto her side and cuddle up next to him.

He fidgeted for a brief second, wanting to turn over to his side, so that he could check the time. He felt Haley's grip on his side loosen, allowing him to roll over and he saw that it was just coming up to midnight. Feeling Haley's body scoot closer to him, he sighed softly, knowing that he had to be up in a few hours so that he could catch the early morning flight back to Madrid. He was going to be absolutely knackered, he knew that, but he couldn't help but feel that this impromptu trip had been worth it. Seeing Haley's face light up when she turned around in the kitchen earlier and found him standing there had made the entire journey worth it.

Through the faded light filtering in through the window, Haley allowed her eyes to drift over Nathan's strong, muscular back. Her eyes wandered up his side until they hit his tattoo and she closed her eyes briefly for a second, before tentatively raising her hand to his back. As soon as her finger made contact with his skin, she felt him jolt as if she had burned him with her touch.

Nathan instantly seized up as he felt Haley's finger touch the section of his back which housed his tattoo. He closed his eyes as the memories threatened to plague his brain, darken each and every one of his thoughts and he battled hard with himself to prevent the images from forming in his head. He felt Haley begin to trace the outline of the ink which covered his back, her feather light touch which would usually be such a comfort to him, causing him to recoil away from her due to what she was touching. He tried to shuffle away from her, tried to turn his back so that it was pressed down on the mattress and out of her sight, but her other hand moved onto his shoulder, gripping onto him tightly.

"Don't." Haley said softly, hoping that he would stop squirming away from her and lay still again. She wished that he would be able to relax. She wished that he didn't carry all of this sadness and guilt around inside of him. She wished that he would open up and talk to her about how he felt about that day, about how he now felt about all that had happened.

Nathan kept his eyes closed as Haley continued to move her fingers delicately over the markings on his skin. He took a deep, shaky breath and tried desperately to clear his mind, and just when he thought he had been successful, flashes of that night would come creeping back into the far corners of his head. Lights. Metal. Darkness. He cringed as the sounds from that night boomed repeatedly in his ears and he fought to keep himself from slipping into that abyss, the depressing hole which he really didn't want to retreat into.

Haley could feel him shaking underneath her touch and she sighed in sadness for him, hating seeing him like this. She flattened her palm over the intricate drawing, ceasing the path of her fingertips and leaned her head down until her lips pressed lightly against his shoulder blades. She removed her lips from his warm skin and hovered her mouth just above his back, her breath fanning out over his skin. She felt his shaking begin to appease and she leaned her mouth down to place another kiss on the back of his neck, wishing that she could suck some of this despair out of his body, wishing that his soul wasn't as tainted as she knew it was, despite his attempts to shield her, and everyone else from it all.

Nathan felt Haley pull away from him, though her hand remained on his back. Now that she wasn't tracing the path of his tattoo, his racing mind had calmed down a little and he was able to relax a little more. He took a deep breath in and opened his eyes, staring at nothing in particular but he was pleased that those horrific memories seemed to be receding slowly back into that box inside his head. He felt her fingers begin to trace a path from his shoulder towards his neck and her hands eventually ended up being wrapped in his hair. He closed his eyes, focussing his mind on the feel of her fingernails softly scraping against his scalp.

Haley rested her head on her arm, propped up by the pillow as she continued to run her fingers through Nathan's hair. Her eyes were still trained on that tattoo of his, she was unable to remove her gaze from it and the more she looked at it, the more she knew she needed to at least attempt to bring the conversation up. She licked her lips as she pondered over her words, not knowing what would be the best way for them to begin this conversation. "Lucas is worried about you, you know." She said quietly while her hand continued to move over his head.

Nathan didn't know what to say back to Haley because he really didn't want to have this conversation with her. Not now, when he was already feeling incredibly overwhelmed and tired from his journey back to see her. But he also knew deep down inside of him that in his eyes, there would never be a good time for them to have this conversation because as far as he was concerned, Lily was a subject that he never wanted to discuss, ever. So instead of responding, he continued to stare into nothing.

Haley raised her eyes up to the ceiling, really wanting Nathan to respond to her. She didn't want this discussion to turn into another argument, she didn't want them to end up in the same position they had ended up in last week, so she was trying to tread carefully, but equally, the frustration of having him bottle all of this up inside of him, without even so much as a word of encouraging discussion, was making her feel incredibly on edge. Lucas was right, if Nathan didn't start dealing with this properly, and soon, he really was going to have a meltdown, and she desperately wanted to do all she could to prevent that from happening. "Lucas told me that he asked you if you wanted to go and see Lily in a couple of weeks, do you think you're going to go?" She pushed lightly.

Nathan couldn't even begin to fathom what going to see Lily would be like for him, what it would do to him because even the thought of it was enough to make him feel physically sick. The guilt he felt over the events of the past weighed heavily inside of him each day, but going up there, seeing with his own eyes the evidence of what he had done would mean that the guilt would surely consume him. Some days, especially when it came close to the anniversary, he barely felt like he was treading water. He could sometimes feel the forces deep down inside of himself begin to tug and pull him below the surface, sending him spluttering and completely helpless into a swirling oblivion he had absolutely no control over. He swallowed thickly, the bile beginning to rise quickly in his throat. "No, Haley. I'm not going to go." He said with an incredible degree of finality. He couldn't go. He knew that. He simply couldn't cope with going to see her.

Haley closed her eyes and shook her head in exasperation. She knew, no matter how hard she tried, that she would never be able to fully understand what he was going through, but it most certainly didn't help in the slightest when he wouldn't even breathe a word about it to her. She, like Lucas, believed that by going to face his demons, it might actually help him begin the process of moving on from all of this; it might actually help to bring him some form of closure over all the events that had happened. It might even make him finally realise that this was not his fault. For months after it had happened, Haley had tried to tell him this very thing but he was having none of it, instead choosing to wallow in self-pity, guilt and disgust at himself. It had been one of the most depressing and sad things she'd ever had to witness, and despite his façade, despite his attempts at concealing all of those intense feelings, she knew he still felt that way. "It might help, if you go, you know that Nathan?" She asked softly as she brought her hand down to the nape of his neck and began to run her fingernails lightly over his skin.

Nathan didn't want help. He didn't want saving. He was perfectly happy coasting along as he was at the moment. The guilt and the pain made him feel better, the suffering he felt was a reminder that he was alive, but was also a welcomed constant reminder of what he had done. It consistently burned faintly under his skin and without that feeling he would probably be lost; he'd grown so used to it over time. Not wanting to discuss this topic any further, he flipped himself over so that he was facing her, trapping Haley's hand between his neck and the pillow and hoped he had plastered what he wanted to be a believable smile on his face. "I don't need any help, Hales, I'm fine, really." He said in what he hoped was a convincing tone, only he then saw the look of disbelief in her eyes, which made him smile that little bit more, because it was clear that she could see right through him, and in a way, that was a really big comfort to him. She knew him better than anyone, often better than he knew himself. It never ceased to amaze him, but at the same time, it was slightly irritating when he wanted to shut something off, especially something of this magnitude. So he decided to try to put the subject to rest, at least for this evening. "I'm knackered, do you mind if we put the rest of this conversation on hold for a while?"

Haley nodded her head at Nathan softly, knowing that what with the flight over here from Madrid today, and the flight back there tomorrow on his mind, he had to be absolutely exhausted, without her piling on the emotional exhaustion of the whole Lily subject too. She watched as Nathan shut his heavy eyes and fell into a deep sleep almost instantly, his chest rising and falling in time with his deep breathing. Sleep wasn't going to come as easily to her though. Her eyes roamed over his body, and although she knew that she hadn't really got anywhere with him tonight, at least he had remained calm, instead of snapping his head off at her. Therefore, in her mind, that was progress. She just hoped they continued down this path, instead of retreating back to his defensive behaviour on the subject. Who knew, maybe the next time they talked about this maybe Nathan would finally open up, even just a little bit with her. But she knew she needed to tread carefully because this was an extremely delicate subject, so she made a promise with herself to be patient with him.

She closed her eyes and willed herself to fall asleep quickly but her mind was spinning. And it was only at this point that she realised that she and Nathan were laying in the same bed, and she was about to fall to sleep. She bit down on her lip as her eyes opened quickly and she pondered over whether she should go into his room and sleep in his bed. It would be the right thing to do, surely. Sleeping in the same bed as each other was most definitely not on their list of rules. However, before she could even move a muscle, Nathan wrapped his arm around her back and pulled her in close to him, effectively trapping her to him and Haley couldn't help but wonder if, on some level, he had known what she was about to do. She smiled softly and instead of struggling out of his vicelike grasp, she snuggled further into his body and slipped into a restful sleep.

~*~

As soon as Nathan had showered and dressed, he tiptoed along the hallway back to Haley's room, slipping inside the door he had left slightly open so as not to wake her when he returned from the shower, halting in his movements once he got inside. He stared at her sleeping form, watching as the covers which were wrapped around her body rose and fell in time with her breathing. He cast his eyes over her face, taking in each of her delicate features, unable to help the smile that flitted across his face as memories of last night came back to him.

Holding Haley in his arms had caused the most amazing feeling to rush right through his entire body. It had felt so natural to him, like it should be something that they should always do, constantly. He hadn't had a decent night's sleep like that in an age. That was the thing about him being near Haley, she made all the dark thoughts he had about himself, all the pain and guilt he constantly carried around inside of himself, disappear. He felt whole around her, complete and happy. He always had felt that way, she did something unexplainable to him, and that was why he was so relieved to have her, for her to want to be in his life. But last night, the wholeness he felt intensified, to the point where everything had just felt right, like he belonged in her bed, like she belonged in his arms.

He walked quietly over to the bed and smiled softly as he sat himself carefully down on the bed beside her. He watched her for a few seconds, revelling in just simply being able to see her like this, so at peace with everything. He reached his hand up and tucked a wayward strand of hair behind her ear and then softly trailed his knuckles over her cheeks, before pulling them away, afraid to wake her. Every time he touched her now, his skin seemed to tingle. It was the strangest feeling, one he had never felt before but it was almost addicting, and he couldn't seem to help himself from wanting more. He brought his finger back up to her face, unable to resist one last touch and traced a light line right down the centre of her nose, smiling as the tingles returned to his skin, moving his finger along to her cheek where he traced her cheekbone.

Her mouth was pouted slightly and he stared at her lips for a while, wondering why he had the sudden urge to kiss her. The thought had fluttered into his mind so casually he barely even recognised the fact that it was wrong and that he shouldn't be thinking those things. But as soon as he focussed on this wonderful idea some more, he realised that he most certainly shouldn't want to do that. The thought confused him immensely, especially as no matter how many times he tried to banish it from his brain, somehow it kept on creeping back in there. But he couldn't do that, he couldn't defy the rules to this agreement. Especially when she wasn't even conscious.

He sighed heavily and closed his eyes, willing himself to control his urges, because breaking the rules would get him absolutely nowhere. He battled with himself, because he still really wanted to kiss her, but he was somehow managing to resist. He glanced over at the clock and realised that he really needed to get back to the airport, because his boss would kill him if he wasn't back in Madrid for drinks in the evening. He leaned forward and brushed his lips lightly against her forehead, pulling away and hovering his head above hers. He was so close his nose was practically touching hers and he could feel her steady breath fanning out against his face. He closed his eyes, because the desire to kiss her had only intensified now that his mouth was extremely close to hers, and with all the willpower he had inside of himself he pulled his head away.

But he wasn't able to resist her lips completely. He pressed his fingers to his lips, kissing them and then placed them to Haley's lips lightly. He ran his fingers softly over her full lips and then in that moment he knew he needed to get himself right out of temptations way, because he was making what was supposed to be a simple, silent goodbye, far too difficult for himself. He removed his hand from her lips and turned his head away from her, lifting himself up off the bed. He then walked towards her door, unable to resist another glance at her as he placed his hand on the doorknob. "See you Wednesday, gorgeous." He whispered and then walked out into the hallway, closing her door behind him, wondering why the act of leaving her had suddenly caused him to feel like a part of him was being left behind too.

As soon as Haley heard the click of her door, she jolted her eyes open and ran her fingers over her lips, wondering why in the hell they felt like they were tingling and why the hell Nathan had touched her like that.

But the one thought that was confusing her so very much, the one thought that wouldn't stop screaming so very loudly inside of her head was the feeling that she wished it had been his lips, rather than his fingers which were causing her mouth tingle.

**AN – Okay, so as usual, please let me know your thoughts on the chapter.**

**Lily and the hospital stay will be coming up in more detail very soon – as will the Ryan/Nathan meeting – which I think is going to be interesting.**

**Teaser pics for the next chapter will be up on the blog soon.**

**I'll be sending out a preview of the next chapter too, so if you want it, just let me know in a review and I'll send it out to you ASAP. Thanks :o)**


	10. Chapter 10

**AN – Once again, thank you all so much for the lovely comments you continue to leave for this story and sorry I couldn't get this chapter out to you all sooner, but work continues to be extremely busy and I'm writing as quickly as I can – these long chapters seem to just take me forever though! :o)**

**As always a few words to those of you without accounts who reviewed so I couldn't respond personally… **Mazzy – **So pleased you liked the last update.** **I'm going to keep quiet about your Lily theories cos you'll find out soon enough and as for that kiss… I'm saying nothing! Hope you enjoy this chapter! **BlueJean452 – **So glad you enjoyed the last chapter and I hope you like this update too… **Leah – **So pleased to hear you liked the last chapter and Nathan coming home to see Haley. The Ryan/Nathan meeting is soon… and no – no kiss thus far! Hope you enjoy the new chapter! **Keeta – **Hope you got the email with the preview okay? So glad you enjoyed reading the last chapter and glad you like the changing feelings. Hope you enjoy the update! **Lou – **I'm so pleased you're enjoying my writing and the long chapters. I'm glad you're excited for the Ryan/Nathan meeting – I'm excited to write it – and Lily will be revealed very soon so I'm going to keep quiet. Sorry I couldn't send you the preview but your email address didn't show up in the review you left (try putting some spaces in it), but I hope you like this update! **Audrey – **I'm so pleased you enjoyed the chapter and the ending! Sorry I couldn't send you a preview but your email address didn't show up in the review (try putting some spaces in it). I hope you enjoy the new chapter though. **Rachael – **So pleased you're enjoying the story so far and that you're anxiously waiting for that kiss! I hope you enjoy this update! **Anon – **So glad to hear you're enjoying the story! Lily will be revealed very soon and the Ryan/Nathan meeting is coming up soon too! Hope you enjoy this chapter!**

**Right – as per usual I need to thank Kristen and Rebecca who do a wonderful job encouraging me to write and read through my long arse chapters before I post them – and generally put up with me!**

**I think that's all I have to say – so I hope you all enjoy the update!**

**Chapter Ten**

"So this is where you've been hiding."

Haley jumped about ten feet in the air when she heard someone speak to the side of where she was currently running. She was using the treadmill at the gym and had over the past couple of days been successfully avoiding Ryan, or so she'd thought. She couldn't come up with the reasons as to why she hadn't been on a run with him since she'd cancelled on him at the weekend, but something had felt odd, and kind of awkward. Only now that he'd found her, things seemed to grow from feeling slightly awkward, to off the scale awkward. She didn't know if she should continue running, or whether she should slow the treadmill down, or if she should just stop it altogether. And then she started to panic even more because she was putting so much effort into thinking about how she should react to Ryan finding her here when it shouldn't matter that much to her… but she still didn't quite know what to do.

Ryan could see the slight alarm in Haley's eyes as they darted from left to right, not to mention the fact that he'd startled her when he'd finally spotted her running on one of the machines and decided to come over to talk to her. He was slightly pleased that he had decided to come to the gym for a workout on his day off and found her here and also slightly pissed that she'd actually been here. She'd been batting away his text messages like she was in the middle of the Wimbledon final and he didn't quite know what to make of that.

Luckily for Haley, Ryan decided to take the initiative as she was still in the middle of having a mild panic attack, and she looked down just in time to see his hand move over the rail and press the huge stop button. Immediately she felt the machine begin to slow down and she altered the pace of her legs accordingly. Only once she had stopped moving, she didn't know what the hell she was going to say to him, or what he was going to say to her for that matter, and that caused a whole new wave of anxiety to wash right over her. She actually wished that the treadmill was still running, at least that way she'd have something to occupy herself with, rather than having to just stand still.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to make you jump." Ryan apologised as he rested his hands on the railing at the side of the machine. He was trying his hardest to act nonchalant when actually on the inside a whole mix of emotions were running through his veins. He'd thought they were getting somewhere last week, and although she'd made a point to mention the fact that their trip out to see a film was not a date, he still liked to think that they were simply more than two training buddies heading out together. Weren't they supposed to be friends, even though he clearly wanted more with her? If that was the case, as he'd thought, then the fact that she was so very clearly avoiding him didn't make any sense whatsoever.

Haley licked her lips nervously, wishing that her water bottle wasn't on the floor because she could really do with a drink right about now. She couldn't bring herself to look at Ryan just yet, but she knew that if she didn't look like she was at least trying to look at him, things would turn even more awkward than they already were, which she honestly didn't think was possible. So she focussed on the clock which just so happened to be on the wall behind where Ryan was standing, and was conveniently located just above his head. She tried to gather her thoughts but she felt rather embarrassed that he had found her here and so they were all jumbled and nothing coherent or appropriate would form in her head. "I didn't think you were working today." She blurted out and then realised what she'd said and gasped slightly because she'd just openly admitted that she was doing exactly what he'd accused her of when he'd come over here to speak to her. She had been hiding from him.

Ryan felt his shoulders slump ever so slightly from her obvious mistake of an admission, but luckily for him, his arms were still resting on the side of the machine and so it wasn't entirely obvious. He felt slightly hurt that his words, which were meant to have been a joke, although he now knew it to be true, hadn't been returned in a jovial way by Haley. He wished that she would have at least pretended that she hadn't been avoiding him, if only to make himself feel a little better. However, he glanced down at the floor, took a deep breath and then brought his gaze back up to Haley's face, noticing that she still wasn't looking at him properly, even though she was pretending to. "Ah, so you were avoiding me then." He said in what he hoped was a light tone, hoping that he'd be able to mask his disappointment.

Haley slowly brought her eyes down from where she was looking at the clock over Ryan's head and cautiously met his gaze. She felt so horrible, because he'd done nothing wrong, yet she'd just completely disregarded him ever since the weekend. They were supposed to have gone training on Sunday and yesterday too, as well as this morning yet she'd managed to text back a couple of excuses about why she couldn't make training, and had surreptitiously been going to the gym instead, at times when she knew Ryan wouldn't be working to keep up her exercise regime. And the fact that she couldn't quite put her finger on why she'd done that made her feel absolutely awful. "I'm sorry, Ryan, I've not been ignoring you… it's just…" She really didn't know what to say.

"Just what, Haley?" Ryan prompted, half wanting to know what was causing her to pull away so clearly from him and half fearing what she was going to say.

Haley closed her eyes and leaned back against the opposite rail of the machine, shaking her head at herself. "I don't even know!" She exclaimed in frustration, wringing her hands together in front of her body, wishing she could give Ryan a more coherent answer.

Ryan could see how tense she was and he didn't want her to feel that way, even if she had hurt his feelings a little by kind of ignoring him for the past couple of days. So he decided to help her out. "So you don't know… how about we start on Saturday and why you didn't want to go and see a movie with me and we can see if you can explain that before we get onto why we've not been training together in a couple of days?" He asked softly, smiling at her when she opened her eyes to let her know that he wasn't mad at her, even though he was slightly on the inside.

She could explain Saturday easily enough, it was the other stuff that she couldn't get her head around. "Well, Nathan came home on Saturday from Madrid, just for the night, and so I needed to kind of spend the night with him instead." Haley explained before quickly adding an apology onto the end of her sentence.

Ryan shrugged, not quite knowing what to make of that. He knew from conversations he'd had with Haley that she and Nathan were close, but he didn't quite understand the current of jealousy which ran through his veins because he had no right to feel that way. Nathan had been in her life a hell of a lot longer than he had. So he sucked it up and smiled at her once again. "Okay, so that explains why you bailed out on me on Saturday, what about training?"

Haley didn't know what to say because she didn't understand the way she was feeling at all. It wasn't that she didn't want to see him, it's just that it felt a bit… uncomfortable maybe, being around him. She kind of knew, in a way, that he wanted to be more than friends with her, which is why she'd made a point to clarify that their trip to the movies wasn't a date. But it wasn't just that. There was a whole host of emotions running through her mind at the moment and they never seemed to relent, causing her to feel incredibly confused. So she thought it best to distance herself from him. But she sometimes felt a bit confused about Nathan too and never felt the need to pull away from him, which she put down to the simple fact of knowing him longer and also the fact that she was so used to having him in her life. How the hell could she explain that to him? How could she explain that it felt weird, all of a sudden for him to be in or near her home which she shared with Nathan, when she didn't even understand it herself? "I don't know about training. I…" God, she needed to come up with an excuse quickly. "I guess I just got bored with the park."

"You got bored with the park?" Ryan responded incredulously, raising his eyebrow at her. What kind of an excuse was that? Hadn't she told him that she preferred running in the park a couple of weeks ago?

"Yeah." Haley shrugged, blushing because that sounded absolutely pathetic, even to her own ears.

"Okay… so why didn't you just tell me that and ask me to meet you at the gym?" Ryan questioned.

"Because I know how much you enjoy running there and I didn't want to ruin training for you." Haley responded lamely, but quickly, so she was rather proud of herself for that at least.

Ryan frowned, because clearly she wasn't telling him something, and she obviously didn't want to either give her rather ridiculous responses to his questions. So instead of continuing to ask questions, he decided to leave it be. "Well, shall I meet you at the gym tomorrow morning then so we can continue training, since you've suddenly become bored with the park?"

"Yeah, that sounds good." Haley said and then nodded her head at him.

Ryan considered her for a moment, before he nodded his head at her too, straightening himself up a little. He tapped the railing of the treadmill a couple of times, which he was still clinging onto, wondering what else he should say to her. The air around them both was starting to become filled with awkward tension. "For the record, Haley, I enjoy running with you wherever, the park, the gym… it doesn't matter where we are."

Haley blushed and chewed on her lower lip, giving Ryan a small smile because she didn't know what to say to him now, especially after the way she'd treated him these past couple of days. She felt really bad about it all.

"Tomorrow, here, at seven thirty?" Ryan asked as he stretched his arms out in front of him.

Haley nodded her head again a couple of times and then watched as Ryan nodded his head once at her before he turned and headed towards the free weights.

~*~

Haley sighed as she dragged the laundry hamper along the hallway, over the tiled kitchen floor and through to the small utility room which housed the washing machine, wanting to put a wash on before she headed down to the gym to meet Ryan for the second morning this week. Nathan had been up at the crack of dawn and had somehow managed to get out of the house before she'd even had the chance to get up herself, despite the late hour he had got home last night, or more accurately, the early hour he'd returned home from Madrid this morning. She honestly didn't know how he did it, how he was able to function on so little sleep and still work these crazy hours. She shook her head as she grabbed the dirty clothes and placed them inside the machine, honestly believing that Nathan was some kind of superhero or something.

Realising that Nathan hadn't even placed his dirty clothes from his business trip in the hamper, and seeing that she had enough space in the machine to fit some of his washing in too, she wandered back along the corridor towards his bedroom. Opening the door, she walked inside and saw that his suitcase lay completely zipped up on the floor. She turned it on its side and unzipped it, grabbing his shirts, boxers and crumpled suits from the case, placing them in two different piles, one for washing, and another which needed to go to the dry cleaners at some point.

Picking up the pile which contained the washing, she carried it carefully back down the hallway to the utility room and then put a wash on. Taking a quick sip of the coffee she'd left abandoned on the countertop in the kitchen and wincing at how cold it now was, she then walked back towards Nathan's bedroom. Once inside, she picked up one of the three suits which were all so crinkled she knew he'd probably appreciate the gesture if she were to get them dry cleaned for him, instead of having to do it himself, and so she carried them all over to his bed, dropping them in a heap on top of his covers.

She began to check the pockets of his suits, finding crumpled Euro notes in most of his pockets and she couldn't help but giggle at him, why he didn't just put the money in his wallet she'd never know. Picking up the last of his suits, which just so happened to be her favourite one; it was dark grey and when he wore it with his blue shirt and tie, he looked so incredibly handsome, she began to check the pockets. She found three twenty Euro notes, two business cards and a scrap of paper with his scrawl on it. Placing the suit in the pile with the other two which she had already checked, she then gathered all of his bits and bobs and moved them over to his desk.

It was then as Haley placed the money, business cards and scrap of paper down on the desk that she caught a glimpse of what was written on the piece of paper. "Nathan's List". She instantly looked away from the paper and glanced behind her, feeling as if she'd just seen something that she wasn't supposed to have seen. And she wasn't supposed to see it, was she? She knew automatically what that list was; it was Nathan's fantasy list, the one that he had written all those weeks ago when they had first talked about their arrangement.

The curiosity to see what he had written down on it was so strong; it was almost overpowering any other thought which occasionally fluttered through her brain. She so very desperately wanted to read what was on his list, she wanted to know what he wanted to do with her, and she wanted to know what his desires were. And it was only fair that she got to see what was written there, wasn't it? After all, he knew what was written on her list, didn't he?

But then there was this conflicting thought which screamed back at her, despite how much she tried to push it away. It told her that he hadn't wanted to share his list with her, and that she should respect his privacy, and his wish to keep his list as a surprise. But then the thoughts of what could be written on there flowed through her mind and the curiosity she felt only grew, so much so that she could actually feel it burning inside of her. The counter argument was fading away incredibly quickly, until it was barely a whisper inside of her brain, and then, there was nothing, no voice telling her not to do this, no voice telling her to not read it.

So, like an excited child who had found the secret stash of presents weeks before Christmas Day, she picked up the scrap of paper and began to read.

~*~

_Sorry gorgeous, not going to be home for dinner, don't wait up x_

Haley sighed slightly in frustration as she read Nathan's text message, although she wasn't at all surprised that he wouldn't be joining her for dinner. It was only his first day back in the office since his trip to Madrid, and he had to be absolutely knackered given the little rest he'd had, but she knew that he wouldn't let something as trivial as needing sleep stop him from working and doing a good job. There was a wave of anger which quickly rolled through her body; didn't he know how much damage he was doing to himself by working this hard? The conversations she'd been having with Luke lately flittered into her mind and it was those thoughts which made that anger she felt stay inside of her, simmering underneath the surface of her skin instead of dissipating. She knew, deep down that Nathan was using work as a distraction from Lily, it was clear as day to her the more she thought about it, and she knew she desperately needed to talk to him about what had happened and how he was, or rather wasn't, dealing with it all. She just couldn't figure out what would be the best and most effective way to draw him into having a detailed conversation about it.

She'd managed to make some headway of sorts at the weekend, but it wasn't enough. She needed him to talk to her openly about it, instead of him clamming up and getting defensive and withdrawn like he always did whenever her name was mentioned. She felt rather lost and a bit put out, because she wanted to be there for her best friend, she wanted to be there to listen to him, to talk to him, to comfort him, but he just wouldn't let her all the way in. He hadn't let anybody in over the five years that had nearly passed.

She took a deep breath and cleared her mind, because she knew if she continued to think about this, she'd only end up going round and round in circles, and the result of that would be driving herself crazy with frustration. So instead she turned the TV off and picked herself up from the sofa, beginning to think about what she'd have for dinner, seeing as she'd now be spending the rest of the evening by herself.

She wandered into the kitchen and opened up the fridge, screwing her nose up at the contents that were inside. Not feeling like cooking anything extravagant just for herself, she pulled out some ham and proceeded to make herself a sandwich for dinner.

Picking her now completed sandwich up from the counter, she took a bite and began to think about that list of Nathan's which she had found earlier this morning. Truthfully, she hadn't been able to get his list out of her head all day. She'd been fantasising about it with every spare second she'd had, it had been rather distracting, in a good way. Chewing thoughtfully, she pondered over whether Nathan's list was slightly more personal than hers had been, because he had written it knowing that they'd be acting it out together, whereas hers had been written with no one particular in mind. And that meant that these were things which he wanted to do with her, didn't it? She felt a warm glow rush through her veins at the thought and couldn't help the smile which stretched slowly over her face.

She did wonder how he thought he was going to be able to do one particular item on his list though, without disclosing it to her, anyway. She couldn't seem to work out how he'd be able to orchestrate it, because it would be absolutely impossible. Finishing off her sandwich, she grabbed the dish cloth and wiped the counter down methodically, finding herself lost in her thoughts. She managed to bring herself back from her daydreams and glanced warily at her phone, remembering his text message to her about working late. She then glanced up at the clock as an idea popped into her head. If he was going to find it difficult to organise then the least she could do was help him out a little, right? Before she completely lost the fleeting thought, and her nerve, she threw the dish cloth into the sink and marched towards her bedroom.

Haley couldn't quite believe what she was about to do and with every step she took towards her bedroom, she had to mentally block out the voice which was telling her not to do this and instead she concentrated her efforts on gathering some of the inner confidence Nathan had inspired after they'd ticked off the mirror sex from her own fantasy list. Walking over to her walk in wardrobe, she picked up the bag which contained the underwear she'd purchased on a whim, or perhaps subconsciously intentionally, during her lunch hour at work and tipped it upside down, the black lace contents falling into a heap on the floor.

She quickly changed into the new underwear and then stood in front of the mirror, blushing slightly as her eyes swept over her figure in the reflection. The underwear was much sexier than anything she'd usually buy and the thought that she looked slightly ridiculous crept annoyingly into her mind. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a brief second, but quickly opened her eyes again when her brain screamed out at her to not do this once again. However, as she stared into her eyes in the reflection in the mirror, she summoned her inner goddess and decided, without hesitation that she was going to do this. And if Nathan didn't like it, then she'd endeavour to get him back in some way, because she'd be absolutely humiliated and completely mortified if he just told her to leave. She might even throw herself out of the nearest window rather than run out of his office, should the need arise.

Ten minutes later, after having poured and drank a few sips of vodka from the freezer for Dutch courage, Haley wrapped her knee length coat around her body some more and crossed her legs, watching the lights of New York city pass her by as she headed towards the Financial District in a cab she'd managed to hail outside of the apartment. She continuously chewed on her lip nervously, because only now had she realised that she was breaking rules, rules which she had demanded so as to keep the boundaries and lines of this agreement clear between herself and Nathan. She released her lip from the grip her teeth had on it and wrung her hands together in her lap, frowning at herself. She should tell the cab driver to simply turn around and take her home? She shouldn't be doing this; she shouldn't be on her way to Nathan's workplace, ready to pounce on him once she got herself into his office. It was dangerous and wasn't she being a complete hypocrite after she'd demanded that he sign a piece of damn paper saying that he'd agreed to her rules? Hadn't she signed that paper too? What the hell was she doing?

She'd been so caught up in thinking about what she was planning on doing, and had got so caught up in how she felt about it, in inspiring herself to find the confidence and in gathering the courage she needed to actually move herself out of the apartment that she hadn't given an ounce of thought to the implications of her actions.

It was a Thursday. Not a Saturday.

Nathan would know, without question, that she'd found and read his list.

If they actually went through with this, and Nathan didn't scream and shout at her for being so foolish, would they still tick something else off on Saturday, or would this be all they'd do this week? She frowned as she pondered this, because she wanted them to still be able to do something on Saturday, Saturday's were their time together almost and just the mere thought of them not ticking an item off either list had her feeling rather empty and despondent.

She sighed heavily and was filled once again with thoughts that she shouldn't be doing this, yet somehow, the words she needed to speak in order to get the taxi driver to turn around and take her back to the apartment wouldn't form. She simply couldn't get them out of her mouth. And while she lost herself in worry and confusion, while she thought deeply about whether the lines she'd so carefully drawn in this agreement had become unmistakably blurred, or whether it was simply some irrational urge she had to prove a point to herself, she conveniently didn't linger on the issue of why she was doing this, because things were already too convoluted for her to analyse these actions any further than she was already doing.

Before she knew what was happening, the cab driver shouted at her through the glass, telling her that she needed to pay and that they'd arrived at Nathan's office. With a shaky hand, she reached down for her pocket and pulled out some notes, handing them to the man before stepping out of the car. She turned herself around and watched as the car sped away, wishing that she'd stayed inside and was now on her way back to the comfort and safety of the apartment instead of standing on a street in the middle of the night. However, she eventually turned around when she saw the tail lights from the car turn the corner and was met with the intimidating height of Nathan's office building, huge and towering above her, making her feel rather small and weak.

Gathering her resolve, she squared her shoulders and told herself that she was being stupid for thinking such things. She walked confidently into the building, her high heeled back shoes clanking on the marble floor and she told herself once again that she was really helping Nathan out, and if he didn't want to tick this item off his list tonight, then he shouldn't have written it down in the first place. The fact that he had written it down meant that it was something he wanted to do anyway, so he should be pleased that she was taking the initiative and had made her way down here when he was working so late. And besides, after the number of hours he'd been working lately, coupled with all the travel he'd been doing, he could probably use the distraction she'd inevitably provide.

She strode self-assuredly along the marble floor, intent on getting to the elevators as quickly as possible with Nathan's words from the mirror night echoing in her mind, giving her the confidence to do this, despite the fact that most of her brain wanted her to feel embarrassed, timid, shy and inexperienced. He thought that she was good enough. She repeated it like a mantra, in time with each click of her shoes as she floated towards the corner of the vast lobby which housed the elevators. Her hands were in the pockets of her coat as she walked, and she had a smile on her face as memories of that amazing night continued to filter through her mind, pleased that she could draw on those thoughts for a moment of inspiration and encouragement, wondering if that had been Nathan's intention when he'd said those words to her.

"Excuse me, miss?"

The noise broke through Haley's Nathan induced haze and she halted her movements, turning around to face the voice, seeing a man dressed in a security uniform standing across the foyer with his arms placed on his hips, looking slightly menacing. She gulped, instantly realising that she hadn't factored in enough thought to this little plan of hers, evidently, because she hadn't counted on there being an actual issue with her getting into the damn building.

"Can I see your pass, please?" The security guard asked, eyeing her sceptically. It was on its way to ten o'clock in the evening, and he had no idea why this young lady was walking into this office building so late at night. He puffed out his chest in an effort to look more authoritative, rather pleased that she had come into the building really because it meant that his monotonous, boring night shift became that little bit more interesting. At least he'd be able to say that he'd talked to someone other than the cleaners and that dude who worked late all the time.

Haley gulped again, audibly this time and her hands began to shake in the pockets of her coat. She felt rather exposed, standing in front of this man, despite the fact that she had a coat wrapped incredibly securely around her body. It felt as though he could see through the material and see what she had on underneath. And she didn't want any other man to see her dressed like she was, the underwear she was wearing was supposed to be for Nathan's eyes only. "I'm sorry, I don't have one." She responded, the sound of her voice shocking her slightly, which was ridiculous, but she couldn't help how nervous she now felt. She berated herself and once again squared her shoulders, realising that if she was going to get past this man, she needed to come up with a decent plan, quickly. She wasn't going to give up without a fight, especially after all the internal monologue it had taken to actually get herself here in the first place.

"Do you mind telling me what you're doing here at this time of night then without a pass?"

~*~

Nathan dragged both of his hands through his hair, gripping onto the ends of his locks in complete frustration, before wincing in pain slightly as he realised that he was pulling just a little bit too hard. He'd had the day from hell, literally, and was utterly exhausted. He'd arrived back in New York at some ridiculous hour in the morning, and for whatever pointless reason, he'd gone home to the apartment for what had to be the shortest sleep in the history of all mankind, and then had crawled into the office for a seven thirty meeting, arriving an hour early so that he could prepare adequately for it.

He also desperately missed Haley while he had been away in Madrid, and although the only thought that had entered his head as he walked into the apartment earlier that morning had been to get to his bed, he'd snuck along the corridor to her room and had a peek through the door, just to make sure that she was okay. He found her sleeping soundly, her breathing regular and almost silent and he hadn't been able to keep the smile from forming as he watched her resting, completely enchanted by simply the sight of her. Being away from her for any length of time had always been hard, and in a way, leaving her again after coming home at the weekend had been harder for him than leaving her earlier on in the week in the first place.

But he was home now. And work was just as demanding, if not more so that it had been before the trip to Madrid. He was working on a presentation and the asshole from Accounting hadn't mailed him the right slides. Of course, the idiot had gone home for the night which meant that instead of being able to finish the presentation tonight, he was going to have to add it to his already overflowing To Do List for tomorrow.

With a heavy sigh he saved the presentation as it was and flipped back to the designs he'd been correcting before he'd got sidetracked with the presentation. He lost himself in changing the fonts because the client had now decided they wanted that to change that too. He knew, obviously that it was their prerogative to change things, and he should probably be grateful that they were choosing to do so fairly early on in the project but he still found it frustrating. Especially when, if he didn't have to do this, he could be heading home right about now and possibly be spending some much needed quality time with Haley.

His phone rang, and he stopped his work to glance at the caller ID, seeing that Lucas was calling him yet again. He growled in frustration and silenced the call, grabbing his phone in his fist, wishing that he could throw it against the wall, but he managed to stop himself at the last minute, because he couldn't be bothered with the hassle of having to get a new one, and equally he had no spare time to head down to the phone shop anyway. He released his grip and dropped the phone to his desk, pissed off that he'd been interrupted, once again by Luke.

His brother had been calling him incessantly for the past week, even when he wasn't in the country he'd still call. And it was always about the same subject, always about whether he'd changed his mind about going to see Lily with him and Brooke next weekend. He gritted his teeth together as his phone buzzed, indicating that he had another new voicemail, but he didn't bother listening to it because it'd only say the same thing as the one he'd left at lunchtime. Instead he made himself fall back into his work, putting up that internal wall and blocking out any thought which had Lily attached to it.

He didn't know how much time had passed, but the next thing he knew, the door to his office was opening. He glanced down at the clock on his computer and noted that it had just passed ten o'clock and as far as he was aware everyone else on his floor had gone home many hours before. Grant had popped his head through at eight o'clock and given that he was the big boss around here, Nathan had presumed that he was the last to leave. He then lifted his head up and could have sworn that his jaw dropped wide open because Haley was stepping inside. He didn't know if he was just exceptionally tired and was hallucinating or whether this was reality and was really happening.

Haley closed the door to Nathan's office and turned herself around, leaning her back against it as she rested her eyes on Nathan, who was sitting behind his desk looking completely and utterly confused. The vodka she'd drunk earlier was making her feel a little more confident and bold than she would usually be, and she was glad of that because if it hadn't have been for the vodka, as soon as the cab had pulled away from the curb of the apartment, she would have screamed at the driver to stop so that she could go back to the safety of their home, instead of having the courage to come down and do what she was about to do in Nathan's office, of all places.

She was smiling at him with that incredibly sexy grin of hers, and she was leaning back against his office door with her legs crossed at the ankle, wearing that pair of ludicrously expensive shoes he'd inadvertently paid for. Nathan couldn't help the way his gaze wandered up from the pair of black shoes, up over the curve of her legs which were covered in a sheer pair black pair of tights, until he got to her knees where the bottom of her coat lay. She had on her black, wrap around coat which showcased her slim waist off to perfection and then his eyes wandered up towards her face, stopping to admire the curls of her brown hair, until his gaze rested back on that sexy smile and those deep brown eyes of hers, which seemed to have an incredibly naughty glint in them. She really did look absolutely stunning, but then again, to him, she always did. He quickly reined in his wandering mind and pushed his swivel chair behind him, standing up so that he could walk to the other side of his desk, his mind suddenly piecing together the information which had been momentarily blocked from his brain by just the sight of her. "What are you doing here, gorgeous? I told you I'd be working late." He said as he rested his hands behind him on the back of one of the chairs which faced his desk.

Haley licked her lips as her eyes ran hungrily over his body. His suit jacket and tie had been discarded during the day and he had a white shirt with deep blue stripes on and a pair of grey trousers. The shirt was tailored enough so that she could see his defined chest underneath and it nipped in deliciously at his waist, and she closed her eyes for a second, remembering the deep V of his pelvic bone which resided underneath the material, longing to run her tongue along it for some obscure reason. She had to bite back the moan which threatened to escape from her mouth at just the thought of tasting him, of having her tongue on his skin and she felt this fire of desire rush through her veins. She opened her eyes once again and considered his question. What was she doing here again? She could barely remember, but then as her eyes skimmed around the room, images of Nathan taking her against the wall, of her leaning against one of those chairs as he pounded into her from behind, or better yet, him thrusting into her as she lay spread across his desk, raced through her mind and her reasons for being here suddenly became very clear to her. This may well be one of Nathan's fantasies but it was quickly becoming one of her own too.

Nathan couldn't help but be dragged in by the wild look she had in her eyes once she had opened them again. Her eyes were flying around the room and he glanced around where he was currently standing, wondering what was causing her to act this way. "Gorgeous?" He asked again, prompting her to shift her eyes back to meet his. He frowned as he looked at her, sure that he could see this hunger in her eyes but wondering why that was, and given how exhausted he was, he couldn't very well say that his perceptions and Haley-reading skills would be all that accurate at the moment. However, when a coy smile began to play on the corner of her mouth, he wondered if he had been right, if that really was hunger he could see in her eyes, and not just any hunger, hunger for him.

Haley could see the way he was studying her and she could feel herself beginning to flush under his scrutiny. She knew what she was doing was so out of character but those thoughts of being with him in this room kept fluttering in her mind, reminding her of why she was here and also of how much she wanted to do this for him. So she took a deep breath and once again summoned her inner goddess, ready to begin to play with him, because she had no doubts at all that this would be extremely fun. "Well, I was happily putting my washing in the machine this morning and had some spare room in the machine so I thought I'd go and grab your dirty clothes too and wash them for you." She started.

Nathan didn't know where the hell she was going with this. So she did some washing for him, that was quite nice of her, wasn't it? She knew how much he hated doing it himself, but still, that didn't explain why she felt the need to come down here and tell him about it. "Okay, thanks for doing my washing for me, Hales." He said, the confusion clearly evident in the tone of his voice.

Haley raised her eyebrow at him, wondering if he'd be thanking her once she revealed what she'd seen as she was going through his suits. "I also dropped your suits off at the dry cleaners." She said nonchalantly, though continued to grin widely at Nathan, the vodka making her admission that little bit less stealthy than she'd actually intended.

Nathan clearly was missing something here. She felt it necessary to come down to his office at some ridiculous hour of the night to tell him that she'd done his washing and had taken his suits to the dry cleaners? "Okay, thanks." He replied sceptically, and then shook his head at her, because she was acting incredibly weird.

Nathan wasn't getting it. She decided to give him a more obvious clue, just to help him along a little. "You don't have a camera in this office, do you?" She asked as she looked around the ceiling. Haley knew from her brief inspection that he didn't, and was glad because she'd have been completely mortified if he did, and would have probably backed out on her plan completely, not that she expected him to have one in here anyway.

"Er, no Hales, there's no camera in here. They're just in the lobby by the elevators." Nathan responded and wondered what the hell she was doing, being here in the first place, and switching gears from talking about washing to security cameras. "Have you been drinking?"

"I might have had a sip of something before I came here, but I'm not drunk Nathan, so don't you dare start that crap again." Haley said sharply, indicating that the topic of conversation was now closed, just so that she could get back to playing with him. "So you're sure there are no video cameras in here?"

Nathan shook his head at her. "No, Hales, what's this sudden fascination with video cameras about?" He asked, really not knowing what in the hell had gotten into her. He pushed himself up off the chair he was leaning on and walked over towards her, seeing her eyes darken slightly as he did so, which once again only served to confuse him. He stopped once he was right in front of her and reached out a hand, gently placing a lock of her hair securely behind her ear, leaving his hand to linger in her soft hair.

God, Haley could smell him now that he was this close to her and she closed her eyes for just a second as she felt Nathan's hands begin to play with her hair, the hunger and desire she felt for him growing even more than she'd felt previously. She opened her eyes and found that she was met with the piercing blue of his eyes staring right back at her, and she couldn't help the smile that covered her face, unable to hold it all in any longer. "I can't believe you want to film us having sex!"

Nathan immediately narrowed his eyes at her and then connected the damn dots as he dropped his hand from her hair. "You read my list." He stated, wanting to be pissed off at her for doing so but equally knowing that he shouldn't have left it in his suit pocket of all places. He watched as Haley nodded her head and he groaned. "Why did you have to do that?"

"I didn't want to read it, Nathan, but it was just staring at me when I was emptying your pockets and I couldn't seem to control my hands, and they just kind of picked it up… I tried to stop myself but I was just too curious…" She said and then raised her eyebrow at him as she took in his increasingly narrowed eyes. "Are you annoyed at me?"

Was he annoyed at her? He wasn't sure if annoyed was the right word. He was more pissed off at himself for leaving the damn list somewhere so obvious, though he hadn't known that she would go rooting through his pockets in all honesty. "A little bit, Hales, I kind of wanted some of it to be a surprise…" He whined and then pouted a little bit, because now she knew everything which they had to tick off both of their lists.

Haley smiled up at him from underneath her eyelashes before she lowered her gaze down to his shirt, noticing that he'd unbuttoned the top two buttons at some point during the night while he'd been working away. She breathed in deeply as she reminded herself of why she had come here again tonight, the images of them having sex together in various positions returning to her mind once more. "Well, you managed to surprise me with the pool table, so I suppose it's my turn to surprise you, huh?"

Nathan looked down at her, once again with an incredibly perplexed expression on his face. "Well… seeing as I know what's written on your list, gorgeous, and you now know what's written on mine, I'm not really sure how you'd manage to do that."

Haley licked her lips while she moved her hands up towards his body until her fingers gripped onto the material of his shirt, pulling him towards her so that her mouth was level with his ear. "What do you think I'm doing here, Nathan?" She muttered into his ear.

Nathan didn't have a clue why she was acting like this, and he didn't have an answer to her question either, especially when she was acting so strangely. "I have no idea, because all you've done so far is talk about washing and cameras, and my list… I don't know why you couldn't have just waited until I got home, or told me about all of this tomorrow actually."

Haley pushed herself away from the door and then took a step forwards, causing Nathan to stand upright instead of be leaning towards her, and she closed the distance between them. "Isn't me coming here a surprise? I seem to remember it was the first thing you had written on your list – 'have sex in my office,' right?" She returned as she released her grip on his shirt and spread the palms of her hands out on his chest, feeling the definition of his muscles through the material while she looked up at him from underneath her eyelashes coyly, licking her lips once again.

Nathan's eyes nearly popped out of his head as the realisation and purpose of Haley's impromptu trip to his office dawned on him finally. "Hales, we can't do that here, now… what the… I mean…" He stuttered, bringing his hand up to run through his hair, hoping that the action would somehow mean that he'd be able to organise his thoughts a little better than the jumbled mess they currently were and he also hoped that he'd actually get his head around what she was saying to him.

Haley moved her hands over Nathan's chest until she got to the third button on his shirt, and deftly began to unbutton it, following with the rest until she'd managed to unfasten them all. "Sure we can do it now, when the hell else were you going to get me to come down here?" She asked as she ran her eyes hungrily over his bare chest, moving her fingers up his abs until she reached his shoulders, pushing his shirt down his arms and then discarding it beside her, bringing her hands back to his arms and then once again resumed with running her fingertips over his extremely well defined body.

"True, but, Hales, it's not Saturday." Nathan stated, wondering why in the hell he wasn't just shutting the hell up, because his cock was already hard and the thought of her coming down here purely to act out an item on his list was making him even harder, and then the thought of actually taking her on his desk like he imagined nearly caused him to rip that coat and all her clothes off her body and take her right this instant.

Haley moved her eyes away from his fascinating chest and looked him in the eye, cocking one of her eyebrows again. "So how exactly were you planning to do this on a Saturday?" She questioned, pleased that he was arguing with her a little bit about this, because it showed that he cared and respected the rules of their arrangement. She was highly aware of how hypocritical she was being at the moment but the desire to have him was proving too much for her to challenge.

Okay, so he clearly hadn't thought of the logistics when he had written that one down on his list. How exactly did he plan to make that particular wish come to fruition on a Saturday? He pondered this for a while, because it was serving as an extremely welcome distraction from the thoughts which were currently running through his head. However, he must have really been lost in his thoughts because when he looked down, ready to tell Haley that he didn't know how he was going to orchestrate that particular item, he found that she was promptly pulling his boxers and his trousers down his legs. "Jesus Christ, Hales," He said as he exhaled a harsh breath and watched as she sunk to her knees in front of him, all thoughts of the arrangement and trying to be a gentleman fluttering out of his mind completely. Besides, it seemed that whether he wanted it to or not, this was going to happen today, Thursday night be damned. And who the hell was he kidding, he wanted it, he so very, very badly wanted it.

Haley looked up at him as she gripped his hard cock in her hand, pumping her fist up and down the shaft once, smiling as she heard a quite groan escape from his lips. She then slid her lips over the head of his cock and sucked him into her mouth before he had a chance to argue any further with her, though judging from the guttural groan he let out as her lips moved down his thick shaft, she didn't think that he'd be complaining or making excuses about this any longer.

"God, Hales!" Nathan moaned as he felt his cock reach the tip of her throat, before she raked her teeth over his shaft as she pulled her mouth back to the tip of him, using her tongue to then run languorously around the tip before slipping his cock back into her mouth. She was absolutely amazing at giving head and he couldn't stop himself from telling her so. "God, your mouth feels so good."

Haley moaned around his cock at his words of encouragement, and she then heard Nathan murmur an expletive under his breath, obviously enjoying the vibrations of her voice. She felt his hands move down to her head as she found a steady rhythm of moving her mouth over his cock, using her teeth each time she moved her mouth back up his shaft, which he seemed to like a lot given the low groans which were falling from his mouth.

Nathan wrapped his hands around her hair, creating a ponytail and used his hands to help guide her mouth on his cock, not that she needed any help whatsoever because she was doing a fine job of it by herself, he just wanted something to grip onto truthfully. He glanced down, previously having his eyes clenched shut and he was met with Haley gazing up at him from her kneeling position, still with her damn coat on, and he couldn't help but be mesmerized with the image of his cock disappearing into her mouth as it was. It had to be one of the hottest things he'd ever seen and caused his orgasm to come much quicker than he'd have liked. "Fuck!" He managed to grate out loudly before his body tightened and shook with the restraint he was using in order to prevent himself from slamming himself into her mouth like he so desperately wanted to.

Haley took in as much of his cock as she could, swallowing as he came inside of her mouth. She continued to watch him as he panted heavily over her, loving the way her name fell quietly from his lips. She moved her mouth back up his cock, running her tongue lightly over his shaft, causing him to hiss slightly before she released him from her mouth. She smiled sheepishly up at him as he reached down to help her stand.

Nathan watched her lick her lips as she stood in front of him and it had to be one of the most erotic things ever, knowing that she was tasting him on her tongue. He couldn't help but smirk at her and he quickly wanted to return the favour. He reached out, wanting to pull her close to him but she stepped to the side quickly with a playful grin spread across her face and he couldn't help but growl at her, because she looked really, really sexy, her hair all messed up because his hands hand been running through it, and she had that look in her eye, the one which he knew meant trouble was coming, only he hoped it was trouble of the good kind.

Haley ran her tongue over her lips once more, closing her eyes and moaning softly as she continued to taste Nathan in her mouth. She then opened her eyes and continued her playful grin. "You taste good." She whispered to him, her grin widening when she saw the shocked look in his eyes as he processed her words. She was standing with just enough distance between herself and Nathan to mean that he couldn't reach out and grab her, which was perfect.

Oh yes, this was definitely trouble of the good kind. Nathan couldn't believe the words which had just fallen from her lips. Once he'd managed to take in what she'd just said to him, he watched with rapt fascination as she moved her hands across her body to untie the waist band which was wrapped around her coat. Once she had it open, her hands moved up to undo the buttons which ran down the side, and she was taking her sweet time which annoyed him incessantly, so he stalked forward because she was being a tease and he didn't like it one bit.

Haley tried to bat his hands away but he gave her a meaningful look, to which she sighed and relaxed her hands at her sides. The buttons were incredibly fiddly and she honestly didn't think he was going to be able to take it off her without ripping it off her body. He was muttering incoherently under his breath as he concentrated so hard on taking it off her, words such as 'stupid fucking things' and 'why would you make it so impossible to get off' falling from his mouth, causing a small smile to play at the corners of her mouth at his irritation with her choice of clothing.

Finally, Nathan released the last button and pulled her coat off her form, revealing her body to him. He actually gasped as his eyes fluttered over her body, because what he found underneath her coat was not what he was expecting to see at all. She had on lingerie. And that was it, no clothes, just lingerie. And not just any kind of lingerie, she had sexy, black, see through lingerie on, which made his cock hard again the instant his brain processed how incredibly sexy she looked. He took a step back and allowed his eyes to run freely over her body, taking in every single curve, the suspender belt and the stockings, together with those damn shoes of hers. It was really fucking sexy, but he wanted to see all of her. "Take the coat off." He demanded in a low, guttural voice.

Haley complied with his request and shimmied out of her coat, hearing the thud of the material as it hit the floor. She gazed cautiously at him, but quickly realised that he more than liked what he saw and she finally took a deep breath in relief. However, she wanted to be sure, because, although she was a little bit better than she'd previously been, she was still a little bit insecure when it came to things like this. "Do you like it?" She asked hesitantly.

Nathan couldn't believe she needed to even ask him that, wasn't his reaction obvious? "Yes I fucking like it." He growled as he stepped forward, closing the distance that was between them. While the lingerie was incredibly sexy, he wanted to see what was underneath it even more. He wasn't entirely sure if he could resist the urge to grab the bra and rip it off her body given that he could see right through it, so instead he reached out and ran his fingers from the centre of her chest down over the soft lace of the suspender belt which sat over her sheer panties.

"I wasn't sure if it was too much. . ." Haley said softly as she bit down on her lip, biting back the moan she could feel rumbling up her throat when she felt his fingertips run along the lace of her suspender belt.

He looked up at her face and saw that she was all flushed and was biting down on her lip. It was times like these that he understood just how insecure she could really be. He wanted her to be comfortable around him, after all, he was her best friend. And although she was getting much better, because the Haley before they'd started this arrangement would never have been able to turn up to his office like this, she still wasn't entirely sure of herself. But he didn't mind because her innocence was such a turn on. He loved it when she blushed like she was doing just now; he loved watching it spread down to her chest. His eyes continued to run over her body, dressed in the sheer, black, lacy lingerie with the shoes he had bought her on her feet, just waiting for him to do something. "Oh no, Hales, it's never too much." He responded in a sultry voice, and licked his lips in anticipation of peeling, or ripping, the lace off her body in just a second.

Haley smiled up at him coyly and stared into his eyes for a second, seeing that they had glazed over and were now a much darker, dangerous shade of blue. She felt the wetness begin to pool in her panties, wondering how it was possible that someone could turn another person on so much by just a look. She felt his hand move over the lace which covered her hip and his hand trailed down her thigh and she shivered in response, unable to control how her body reacted to his touch, and not wanting to control it either.

Nathan continued to run his hand down her thigh and smiled when he felt her shiver, loving the way her body reacted to him. "So where were you thinking of doing this?" He asked and took another step forward so that he was invading Haley's personal space, pulling her body into his and leaning his head down to kiss the side of her neck slowly, softly. Right now he wanted to focus on Haley, and the way she felt under his fingertips, and eventually his body, nothing else.

"Seeing as this is your list, I guess wherever you want, Nathan." Haley returned in a quiet, breathy voice as she leaned her neck to the side, allowing Nathan all the access she could give him, feeling his tongue touch her skin and run in languorous circles around her pulse point, causing a light moan to fall from her lips. His stubble was scratching deliciously along her neck, causing her entire body to tremble with desire and anticipation. "You can have me however you want me." She ran her hands down his chest, feeling her fingers move over his gorgeous muscles, relishing in the feel of his skin underneath her fingertips.

"However and wherever I want, huh?" Nathan mumbled against her skin unable to keep from smirking against her neck at her words, because there would be no way in hell that she'd want to know what was currently running through his mind in that precise moment. He moved his mouth up towards her jaw, and eventually moved his lips to her ear, his tongue running along the edge of it, before he whispered hotly in her ear. "Are you sure about that, gorgeous?"

"Mm hmm." Haley nodded and managed to move her hands around to his back, running them down to his bare ass, squeezing him lightly, feeling his hard cock press into her stomach. She was so caught up in the feel of him, of simply being here with him that she was sure he could have asked her to do anything and she would have happily agreed. Knowing that she was doing this for Nathan, knowing that she was helping one of his fantasies come to life made her feel good, really good.

"Careful, gorgeous, you don't want to know what's currently running through my mind." Nathan warned her as one of his hands moved up to cup her jaw and his mouth moved down from her ear to her neck again, continuing his assault on her skin.

"Hmm, I don't know, I think I could probably handle it." Haley replied, lolling her head back once again and closing her eyes as she felt Nathan's nose run along her jaw, before dipping down to her neck again. She loved the feel of him against her skin, the stark contrast of the softness of his lips and tongue moving along her neck compared to the scratchy stubble prickling her skin, it felt simply delicious.

"I don't know about that." Nathan murmured against her neck with a smirk, working hard to bite back the scoff which was threatening to escape from his mouth, because in all honesty, she had absolutely no idea what he was currently thinking about and he was absolutely positive that she wouldn't have been able to handle it, no matter if she thought otherwise. He also knew that if he scoffed at her she'd end up going off on one about how she 'could handle anything he threw at her' but in all seriousness, where sex and his mind was concerned, that was not the case.

Haley felt Nathan's hand move down the side of her neck which wasn't currently being attacked by his mouth and over her shoulders, the lightness of his touch causing her skin to tingle. She moaned when his mouth moved up to her ear and he grasped onto her earlobe, tugging it lightly, while his hand continued its trail down her back, causing a rush of yearning and longing to sear along her veins.

Nathan moved his hands down to her hips and gripped onto them as he quickly took a step forward so that Haley now had her back right up against the wall. He dragged his hands up the sides of her body from her hips roughly, moving his hands up over the lace of her bra, causing an incredibly sexy moan to fall from her lips when his fingertips brushed over her nipples. "Well seeing as you're intent on leaving this decision up to me, maybe I'll take you against this wall…"

Haley felt Nathan push his hips into her body, feeling his cock press against her stomach, causing her entire body to shudder, from not only his words but also from his actions, as well as in anticipation of what was to come. Her hands trailed up his back and she wove her hands into his hair, tugging on it sharply, causing him to hiss and bite down on her skin. "Oh, God." She half whispered, half moaned as images of Nathan pounding relentlessly into her while she had her legs wrapped around his waist came rushing through her mind.

"Would you like that, me fucking you against this wall?" Nathan grunted as he moved his hands around to her back and unclasped her bra, desperate to feel her chest flush against his without any material getting in the way.

Haley felt Nathan grab a hold of her bra and pull it off her body and as soon as she was free of it, he thrust his hips into her body, crushing her back against the wall. She was panting, feeling absolutely desperate for him, and also for some friction of any kind. "Yes." She breathed as her hands wandered down his back, pressing his body closer to hers even though it was impossible for him to move any further towards her.

Nathan growled at her, rather shocked at the primal noise which escaped through his mouth and moved his hands down her body, over her ass and down to her thighs, following the suspender straps until he got to the top of her stockings, and then he lifted her up off the ground. Her legs automatically wrapped around his waist and his mind went absolutely crazy as he thought of taking her right there, against the wall of his office. He pressed his chest against her and felt Haley begin to grind herself onto his cock, creating the delicious friction he'd be searching for earlier.

"Mmm." Haley moaned as she continued to rub herself up against him, her fingers tangling in his hair as she felt his mouth move languorously along her neck and down her shoulder. Nathan's hand began to move up her thigh and he gripped onto her ass before slipping one of his fingers towards her pussy, pressing into the lace, causing her to moan when he rubbed it around in a circle right outside her entrance, and she threw her head back against the door and pushed herself into his hand, always wanting more.

Nathan couldn't help but smirk at her, loving the way she was when she was like this, so relaxed and simply allowing herself to feel. It also turned him on so much to know that it was his ministrations which were causing her to act that way, and he was also rather proud that her panties were absolutely soaked through. "Well someone's a little bit eager tonight, and it isn't even Saturday." He said with a smirk on his lips, continuing to run his finger around her entrance, knowing that he was driving her crazy but enjoying himself far too much to stop.

Haley most certainly didn't like the whole teasing thing, especially when he wasn't applying more pressure where she craved it. His finger was still strolling around her entrance at a torturous pace, and she desperately wanted more so she leaned her head forward, the fire burning in her eyes and proceeded to bite down on Nathan's neck and then shifted against his finger harder. "Don't you dare tease me, Nathan Scott." She growled against his skin.

With another smirk, Nathan quickly kicked his trousers, boxers, socks and shoes off and then pulled her away from the wall, moving his hand back down her thigh and turned them both around, hearing Haley yelp in the process because she clearly didn't know what was going on. "As much fun as fucking you against the wall would be, I've been imagining it happening on my desk." He murmured in her ear. "And besides, we can save the wall for another weekend." He carried her over to the desk and then tried to let go of her, but she clung to him, her hands locked at the back of his neck while she continued to grind away against his cock. The friction she was creating was really intense and he had to clench his teeth together to stop the groan from actually coming out because given the way she was acting this evening, he knew that would just spur her on. He reached around and unlocked her hands from around his neck and pulled her off his body. He then he took a step away from her, purely so that he could admire her gorgeous, sexy body as she sat, naked and wanting on his desk.

Haley completely drank him in as he stood in front of her, fully erect and simply divine. Her eyes ran over every single muscle of his body, the need she felt for him growing to exponential levels. She lifted her feet up from their dangling position on the edge of where she was sitting and pressed the heels of her shoes into his desk, pushing herself backwards so that Nathan could hop on too.

"Where do you think you're going?" Nathan asked as he grabbed onto her ankles, pulling her back toward the edge of the desk, and inevitably himself. She was now sat at the edge of his desk again, her body close to his and he stared down at her for a moment, completely mesmerised by her beauty, before he decided to tease her some more. Fiery, snarky Haley was always fun to play with. "What did you say before? Did you say you wanted me to tease you?" He asked her as he moved his hands up her legs, bending them at the knee and gripped on her thighs tightly. He felt her struggle against his hands, though her efforts were completely futile because he wasn't letting her go anywhere.

Haley arched her chest, giving up her struggle because it was useless; he was far too strong for her to contend with. She leaned her hands back behind her on the wood of his desk, which caused her breasts to push out towards Nathan and she saw the shift of his gaze. It made her smile slightly, because he clearly wasn't as in control as he was making out before she collected her face again and glared at him, but she was biting down on her lip at the same time and she knew that Nathan would understand that she wasn't as angry about this situation as she was pretending to be. "It's not very nice to tease, Nathan." She whimpered and then sighed to herself, hoping that he'd give this up soon, because she was absolutely desperate for him to be inside of her.

"It isn't, huh?" Nathan asked and then smiled as he watched Haley shake her head at him, continuing to bite down on her lip and still trying to shift under his hands slightly. Her eyes kept darting to his cock and then back up to his face which was making him feel even more desperate for her, because he kind of liked the way she was looking at him. "You don't like this at all?" He moved his hands further up her stocking covered thighs, unclipping the suspender belt from the stockings before moving his hand up further, loving the feel of her skin and the straps of the suspender belt underneath his fingers. Bringing his hands around her hips and taking a step closer to the desk, he deftly unfastened the belt and pulled it off her body, allowing it to fall to the floor beside him. His nose was running along her jaw, breathing in her scent as he leant over her slightly while his hands travelled along the line of her panties from her back and then once he got to her hips he hooked his index fingers into the waistband of her tiny, black, sheer panties and slid them back and forth along her pelvis.

Haley let out a moan as she pushed herself up off the desk and latched onto Nathan's neck, her fingers burying in his hair. She could feel his fingers running lightly over her hip, until he finally brought one of his hands further down inside of her panties, grazing the area just above her clit, causing her to shudder with need. "God." She whispered, her entire body feeling extremely sensitive, given the way that Nathan was currently working her up.

"Sorry, gorgeous, what was that?" Nathan asked, really enjoying the way he was torturing her because the sounds that she was making and the way that she was desperately clawing at his back was so hot.

"Please, Nathan, stop teasing me, I need you… please." Haley begged in a breathy voice, hating how desperate she sounded but she couldn't help it, her entire body was craving him in ways she didn't think was possible. Her hands ran down to his neck and over his strong shoulders, where she dug her nails into his skin in frustration.

Simply the sound of Haley's moaning and her pleading words caused Nathan to groan and his cock completely demanded his attention so he stopped touching her and pulled his hands out of her panties, hearing Haley's growl of frustration as he did so. He grasped his cock in his hand, running his thumb over the head and spread the wetness around before he pumped himself slowly for a minute while Haley's breathing grew shallower as she watched him and his own breathing quickly followed suit.

Haley watched, completely mesmerised as Nathan continued to run his hand up and down his stiff cock. She wanted to be slightly angry, because he was giving himself relief and in the process was making her wait for hers, but the sight of him doing that to himself was far too hypnotic for her to even consider interrupting. So instead she moaned, her eyes completely trained on the way he was working himself over because she couldn't bring herself to look away from him for even a second.

Nathan eventually released his cock from his hand because if he didn't stop now then he was going to end up coming again before he'd got inside of her, and he most certainly didn't want to do that. He licked his lips as he took a step forward towards the desk and placed his hands inside her panties, watching as he silently communicated to Haley that he wanted them off. She leaned back a little and lifted her hips up off the desk, allowing him to pull her panties off in one swift move, watching as they dropped onto the floor, leaving her in just her heels and her stockings. He pressed one of his legs between her own before he leaned forward and left a line of hot kisses along her shoulder to her ear. His cock was pressed against the sharp bone of her hip and she was grinding against his leg desperately again as he moved his hands down her arms and held her wrists to the desk, restraining her so that she couldn't move.

Haley continued to move her pussy against his leg but she wasn't getting the friction she craved because it wasn't enough. She felt Nathan begin to kiss her neck and jaw, and all she could hear was the sound of herself whimpering as she finally gave her futile attempt at relieving herself up. She pulled her leg up and wrapped it around his hip, trying to see if this position would work a little more in her favour.

Nathan ran his tongue along her neck, before he finished his line with a hot, wet kiss right on her pulse point. He pulled away from her and looked into her eyes which were shining bright as she groaned in frustration at him once again. "I think I'm going to take my time with you tonight," He murmured, a small smirk playing at the sides of his mouth.

Haley shook her head furiously, closing her eyes, willing this sweet torture to end. "Please, Nathan, I need to come, I need your cock inside of me, don't make me wait any longer." She pleaded.

Nathan couldn't help himself as he groaned and ground his cock into her hip, releasing the grip he had on her wrists. As soon as she was free from his grasp, he felt Haley wrap her arms around his neck, her fingernails scraping against the skin there as she leaned forward and kissed his chest, his shoulders, any bit of skin that she could get her mouth to fiercely, obviously trying to communicate just how much she needed him, but he refused to relent. This was, after all, his fantasy, they were ticking an item off from his list on this unorthodox night, and he wanted to be in complete control. "Not yet, Hales, but don't worry, I'll make you feel so fucking good." He promised.

Haley held onto Nathan's hair tightly and pulled his face back from her neck so that he was looking in her eyes. "You'd better, Nathan." She growled, making sure that he knew that she was holding him to that promise he'd just made, because she was about to combust with frustration and he'd barely even touched her yet.

Nathan untangled himself from her once again and pressed on her stomach gently, causing Haley to lay down on his desk. He watched as she leaned herself up on her elbows, obviously intent on at least being able to look at him instead of the ceiling, which he could understand. His eyes moved down her body while his hand trailed up towards her breasts and he circled one of her nipples, watching as her eyes fluttered in response. Truthfully, he wanted to be inside of her just much as she wanted him to be, but he wanted to play a bit first, purely for his own amusement, and eventually hers.

Haley felt him roll her nipple between his index finger and his thumb, causing a quiet moan to fall from her lips and she closed her eyes, completely giving in to the sensations he was causing her to feel deep inside of herself. She felt him release her nipple and she opened her eyes when she felt his fingers begin to trail down her chest, watching him as he focussed on the path his hand was currently taking down her body, seeing him lick his lips, making her want him that much more.

Nathan continued the trail down Haley's body and allowed his fingers to drift down towards the smooth skin over her pussy, following the movement fervently with his eyes. He hesitated for a slight second, so that he could rake his eyes up Haley's body, and he found that her chest was heaving and her arms were trembling as she continued to lean on them and he immediately grew concerned. "Lay down, properly." He commanded, not wanting her to cause herself any damage because she was too stubborn to not see what he was doing. Luckily, she complied with his demand, and feeling satisfied that she wasn't straining herself, his eyes moved back down to where his hand was placed, right above her soaking pussy. He lowered his hand, sliding two fingers between her slick, wet lips and moved them lower, circling her clit with his thumb as he slid his fingers slowly inside of her. He watched in rapt fascination as Haley arched her back off the desk and her whole body shuddered now that she had got what she sort of wanted.

"Oh, fuck yes." Haley moaned as she felt his fingers press ever so slowly inside of her and then halt once they were situated deep inside. She clenched her inner muscles around his fingers, wanting more from him because if he didn't start to move them soon she was actually going to have a complete hissy fit. Purely for the reason that he knew exactly what he was doing, and equally he knew that he was pissing her off too.

Nathan groaned as he felt her muscles clench around his fingers desperately and he began to move his fingers inside of her slowly, twisting and curling them up at the ends while he applied a little pressure to her walls, just to see what her reaction was going to be because he knew that this was clearly not all that she wanted from him.

Haley lifted her hips up off the desk slightly, which was rather difficult because her legs were still hanging over the edge so she didn't quite have the leverage she needed. She groaned in frustration and then felt Nathan slowly begin to draw his fingers out of her, running his fingers along her upper wall, causing her to then moan audibly at the sensation they created. She began to move her hips to meet the slow thrust of his fingers, whimpering because the pace just wasn't enough to satisfy her at all. "Mmm, harder and faster, Nathan, please." She moaned breathily, really hoping that he was going to comply with her request.

Hearing her ask freely for what she wanted caused a surge of primal desire and pride to course through Nathan's veins and he shifted his hand, angling it differently so that he could go deeper inside of her, not ready to replace his fingers with his cock yet, even though he was absolutely desperate to bury himself inside of her.

Haley felt Nathan's fingers begin to speed up a little and she moaned when she felt him add a third finger to the two which were already moving inside of her. She lifted her hips off the desk as best she could given her current position which caused his fingers to move deeper into her pussy, exactly what she had been looking for and she moaned in contentment, through the speed at which he was moving was still incredibly slow and a complete hindrance compared to how she wanted them to be moving inside of her. "Oh god, please."

"Please what, Haley?" Nathan asked as he twisted his three fingers insider her, causing her to buck her hips off the desk and groan at him. He wasn't expecting an answer though and he already knew what she wanted, so this time, when he moved his fingers out of her body, he slammed them back inside of her pussy and began to move them at a furious pace.

"Oh, Jesus Christ." Haley cried out as she sucked in a harsh breath and her body dropped down to the desk, finding herself completely tense given how quickly Nathan's fingers were moving in and out of her body. This had been exactly what she'd wanted from him. She could already feel her orgasm beginning to build, and it actually felt heavenly.

"Is that what you wanted?" Nathan breathed out, grunting as he fought the urge to pull his fingers out and push his aching cock inside of her. He really wanted her to come more than once tonight, especially after the amazing blow job she'd already given him, it only felt fair. And so he continued to move his fingers, this time arching all three of them as he quickly dragged them along her walls, once again causing her hips to buck off the desk.

"Oh, fuck . . . yes." Haley responded, and clenched her hands into fists at the sides of her body, loving the feel of his fingers but craving his cock even more. "I want more, I want you…" She breathed out, moaning as his fingers continued to pass over her walls.

"You'll have me but I want you to come like this first." Nathan responded, his fingers continuing to move inside of her at the fast pace he had set. He could see that she was close to coming; he could see her body tensing as she lay on the desk in front of him. Her eyes were clenched shut and she was breathing in deeply, like she was desperate to get some air in her lungs. He reached his free hand down her thigh and lifted one her legs so that her ankle sat on his shoulder, and Haley automatically moved the other leg up so that it too was resting on his shoulder. She felt so much tighter in this position and he was practically shaking with the anticipation of what his cock being inside of her was going to feel like with her legs on his shoulders like this.

Haley felt his fingers continue to move inside of her, the feeling that much more intense given the new position of her legs being on his shoulders and his thumb began to move over her clit, rubbing tight, hard circles over it which was all she needed to just let go, especially with the promise of his cock being able to be inside of her once she had done so. She shuddered and moaned as she came, screaming out Nathan's name, her inner walls clenching around his fingers, though he wasn't relenting in his pace as wave after wave of pleasure rolled over her, her eyes remaining clenched shut the entire time.

Nathan didn't stop moving his fingers inside of her, not even when Haley started to whimper, because he enjoyed the feeling far too much and her moaning was really getting to him in a good way. Once she had come down from the orgasm, she opened her eyes and met his stunned and incredibly needy gaze, because in all honesty he was pretty much ready to fuck the hell out of her.

Haley's breathing was incredibly heavy and she was struggling to make sense of anything after her intense orgasm, but the one thing she did know was that she wanted Nathan, she wanted him, right now. She had no idea how after coming so hard, she could still be craving more but she didn't feel half as satisfied as she should have done. "You…" She panted in a quiet and longing voice. "I want you inside…"

The desperation that was clearly evident in her tone was enough to make Nathan literally growl at her. He removed his fingers from her body and moved them along her pelvic bone until they settled on her hip, the other hand moving down to grab a hold of his aching and throbbing cock. He turned his head and kissed her stocking covered leg as he moved his cock up and down her slit, gathering some of her juices before he began to push into her slowly, hearing Haley join him in his moaning, so pleased to finally be inside of her the way he wanted to be. She was usually so amazingly tight, but this position made her even more so, meaning that he could feel her all around his cock and it felt so good to be able to fill her like this.

"Oh, God, Nathan, it feels so tight like this." Haley moaned out, her back arching off the desk in an attempt to allow him to move even deeper inside of her. She was already slightly sensitive from her previous orgasm but the intense feeling of him finally being inside of her far outweighed any other emotion she felt rush through her body. She felt his hand move to her hip so that both were now situated on her body and he began to move himself out of her, only to then thrust back inside of her.

"Fuck I know." Nathan groaned, because quite frankly, no previous position that they'd tried had felt like this. He quickly upped the pace, thrusting his hips into her body, his hands gripping onto her hips and moving them along with the pace that he had set. Because of the position Haley was in, she had very little control over what her body was doing and he kind of like being in control like this, he liked the fact that, save for her arms, which were rendered pretty useless given how they were clenched into fists at her sides, she was completely at his mercy. "You look so sexy, lying on my desk like this… I don't know how the fuck I'm going to be able to concentrate at work tomorrow." He watched with total fascination as her breasts moved while he continued to thrust in and out of her, leaning forward carefully and listening out for any signs that he was pushing her too far, desperate to have one of her nipples in his mouth.

Haley let out a loud moan at his words, feeling a warm glow rush through her body. She didn't know why but she liked the fact that tomorrow he'd be sitting at his desk when he was supposed to working, thinking about the way she had been spread out, naked on his desk while he ploughed into her. More than that, she wanted him to remember it; she wanted him to be distracted by her, to think of her like this. He had one of her nipples in his mouth now and her legs were straining but she didn't want him to stop because the new angle was causing him to move deeper inside of her. "You're going so deep." She managed to breathe out, moaning as he pushed himself more harshly inside of her, causing that familiar build up of sensations to swirl inside of her.

Nathan felt Haley's walls clench around his cock as her orgasm flowed through her body, and that coupled with the way she was softly moaning his name was his undoing. He pulled on her nipple which was clasped between his teeth and then released it as his body started to tremble. "Shit." He groaned, unable to contain the creeping feeling of his orgasm from exploding any longer. It was just far too intense, and he came, thrusting hard into her as he groaned out her name, his mouth hovering above her body, her legs stopping him from collapsing on her body entirely.

"God that felt so good." Haley mumbled, barely coherent as she shifted slightly, trying to get comfortable. She watched through hooded, sated eyes as Nathan hovered over her body, his breaths coming out in rough pants over her skin, causing this delicious shiver to run up and down her spine. She moved her hands around his back and raked her fingernails over the skin she found there, working her hands up towards his hair where she began to softly run her fingers through his raven black locks while she tried desperately to regain some semblance of control over her own breathing and her rapidly beating heart.

Nathan closed his eyes as he felt Haley's fingers move soothingly over his scalp. He loved it when she did that and after the incredibly stressful day he'd had, he felt utterly and completely relaxed now in her presence. He heard Haley moan a little and he opened his eyes, realising she was trying to move her legs from where they were resting against his shoulders. He immediately found himself getting concerned, because if he'd hurt her he was going to be really mad not only at himself but also at her for not saying something to him. "Are you okay, Hales?" He asked as he quickly pulled himself out of her, hissing slightly at the loss of contact and stood up straight. He then grabbed onto her left leg first, which seemed to be the one that was troubling her given how she was wiggling it around, and he gently lowered it from his shoulder, before repeating the action with her right leg.

Haley moaned in pleasure as Nathan began to run his fingers soothingly along her aching leg. "Mmm, fine, just a little stiff, that's all." She responded as she stretched out the leg which Nathan wasn't attending to while she stretched her hands up above her head, arching her back off his desk in the process.

"For God's sake Hales, if I was hurting you, you should have said something to me." Nathan muttered angrily at her. He was vaguely aware of her stretching and he felt the desire for her begin to pool in his stomach again, but he managed to bat it away successfully and concentrate on her needs instead of the uncontrollable and insatiable hunger he seemed to hold for her. He continued to rub his hands into her stocking covered leg, narrowing his eyes at her as he lifted his gaze to look into her eyes.

Haley couldn't help the eye roll. "What's your problem now?" She retorted and yanked his hands off her leg. Once she'd successfully freed her leg from his grasp, she lifted herself up into a seated position on his desk with her legs dangling off the end of it.

Nathan sighed as he ran his hand through his hair again before taking a large step backwards. He felt a chair behind him fell down onto it in a huff. "I just don't want you hurting, so I would appreciate it if you'd tell me when I am hurting you, so that we… so that I can stop."

"I'm not hurting Nathan, I'm just a little bit sore. And believe me, if I wanted you to stop, I would have said something. But I didn't. So please stop being so ridiculous." Haley returned as she folded her arms across her chest.

"I'm not being ridiculous, Hales, I'm just worried about you, that's all." Nathan responded, running yet another hand through his hair.

Haley raised her eyebrow at him even though he wasn't looking at her in that precise moment. "Yeah, well, I'm worried about you too." She said flatly.

Nathan's eyes snapped back up to meet hers and the instant that he connected his gaze with hers, he knew that she was about to wander down that dangerous path again. He had little over a week to go… and he knew next weekend wasn't going to be pretty, but at least it'd all be over for another year once he managed to get past that horrible date. Although he'd end up carrying the guilt inside of him for another year, as he would for as long as he was living, at least it wouldn't be as intense as it seemed to be around this time of the year. He was trying his best to ignore it, that was partly why he was throwing himself into his work, it was the only effective distraction he'd found so far. Well, being with Haley also helped, because when he was with her like this he found himself incapable of thinking about anything other than the feel of her, the smell of her, the sounds she made, how her skin tasted or how she looked, wanton and full of longing for him. But he didn't want to dwell on that fact because next year, they wouldn't have this agreement in place and he'd be back to dealing with this all on his own again, so it was far better for him not to become so dependent on her. And he didn't want to either; he didn't want to feel like he was using Haley in that way because this was his problem to deal with. He didn't want to drag Haley into the dark abyss where the demons inside of his head lived. He didn't want her to see how ugly and broken he truly was underneath his carefully controlled exterior.

Haley continued to hold his gaze, waiting for him to say something, to tell her to 'back off' like he had before but when she was met with nothing but a thoughtful stare from him, she decided to proceed, a little more cautiously down the path, stepping into previously unknown territory, hoping to gain more of an insight into how he was feeling about all of this. "Are you going to go with Luke to see Lils next weekend?" She asked softly, unfolding her arms from her chest and relaxing her stance somewhat, hoping that this would help Nathan to open up a little to her.

Nathan didn't like it when she used that nickname of hers. It made his chest ache, so much so that the guilt which flowed through his veins felt like a bubbling volcano and he was waiting for his entire body to be burned with the force of his feelings. He was already scarred, he knew that, but at the moment, it felt like one day they might heal, like if he ignored the problem they'd mend by themselves. He didn't even want to think about the irreparable damage he'd do to himself if he allowed himself to drown completely, to let go and just feel. "I already told you, I'm not going." He responded tightly, feeling the emotions wrapping themselves around his body, binding against him firmly until he felt his whole body begin to constrict, like he couldn't breathe properly.

"Why, Nathan? Why don't you want to go?" Haley asked gently. She could hear his breathing becoming ever sharper, like he was gasping for air and the tears began to pool in her eyes as she took in his distressed form, feeling herself physically hurt for him. He was staring at the ground but she could tell from the distant look in his eyes that he wasn't focussing on anything, he was trying to block out the memories that were seeping into his brain. He was trying to lock them back in that box, believing that they couldn't hurt him there. But he had to understand that they still got to him, he had to understand that by putting this off he was making things worse, not better.

Nathan turned his gaze to meet Haley's as her words vibrated through to his brain, calling him back from his haze. And the instant he met her watery eyes, his control dropped for the briefest of seconds, and he remembered far more than just that horrific night. He remembered her, her laugh, her smile, her voice… and he gasped, desperate for the air to reach his lungs as he frantically tried to organise his brain again, desperately trying to lock that box shut so he wouldn't remember any more, so that his mind wouldn't completely overflow with those memories he worked so very hard to keep at bay. He managed to calm himself down by taking some deep breaths, though his heart was still beating wildly in his chest. He shook his head, hating how defensive he became on the subject of Lily and did his best to rein in the anger which seemed to act as a shield to releasing his true feelings on the subject and decided to try to give her an honest answer, instead of spouting off at her, because she really didn't deserve his wrath, the only person he needed to be angry at was himself over this subject matter. "I just can't, Hales, I can't go there, I can't deal with it…"

Haley felt herself crumble completely as she listened to his frantic and desperate words. He sounded so lost and so desperate, like he was searching for some kind of relief and he couldn't find his way towards it. She knew that this was eating away inside of him and she wanted to help him, she wanted to soothe him and tell him what he needed to hear, she just didn't know what that was. The only thing she knew she could do was to comfort him and so she catapulted herself off the desk and sat herself in Nathan's lap, wrapping her arms around his neck and burying her face into the side of his neck. She held him tight to her and felt his hands eventually wrap around her back, pushing her even closer to his body. "Tell me what I can do, Nathan, please tell me how I can make this better for you." She murmured against his skin, feeling the tears she had been trying to stifle fall from her eyes. She clawed desperately at his back, almost wishing that she could crawl inside of him, so that she could get an honest glimpse of him and then know precisely what he needed to hear, so that she could know what she needed to do to help him.

Nathan closed his eyes and turned his head, burrowing himself into her, breathing in the scent of her hair. He instantly found comforting relief and was finally able to drag himself out of the whirlpool of emotions swirling inside of him. He could finally see the light and he began his desperate attempt to continue towards it, the thoughts in his mind slowly retreating to their dark corners. "Just be here with me." He whispered into her hair. "You always make everything better."

**AN – Please let me know your thoughts on this chapter by dropping me a review.**

**And if my writing goes according to plan – you're all going to find out about Lily in the next chapter. **

**A lot of you have been asking about jealous Nathan… and he's going to rear his ugly (somehow I don't think that's the right word!) head in a couple of chapters time too…**

**I also think we're nearing the halfway point of this story.**

**A preview of the next chapter will be available as soon as it's written, like always just let me know in a review if you want it and I'll send it back to you.**


	11. Chapter 11

**AN – Thank you all so much for the lovely reviews you all left for the last chapter.**

**As always, a few quick words to those of you who left reviews without accounts so I couldn't respond personally to them – **Keeta – **So pleased you enjoyed the last chapter, hope you got the preview okay and that you enjoy this update too! **Scott 2312 – **Sorry I couldn't send you a preview but your email address didn't show up on the review :o( so glad you enjoyed the chapter though and I hope you like reading this one too. **Mazzy – **Glad you liked the chapter and Haley going to see Nathan at his work. Lol about your Ryan comments... hope you enjoy this chapter! **Lou –** I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter and thanks for your email about the preview! Hope you enjoy this update! **Rachael – **So pleased you liked the chapter! As for everyone else finding out... you'll have to keep reading to see if that happens or not. And thanks for your comments about cutting the chapters in half. I would do that but I write the scenes out of order sometimes so it wouldn't always work :o) – but I hope you enjoy this chapter too! **HH0417 – **I hope you got the preview okay and I'm so pleased you enjoyed the chapter. I'm keeping quiet about the kiss but I hope you like this update too! **Tlovesnaley2 – **I'm so pleased to hear you're enjoying the story so far. I hope you enjoy this update.**

**Many, many thanks go to Anissa and Kristen, who read through bits of this chapter for me, and to Rebecca who read through the whole thing for me. They all do such a good job of motivating me to write.**

**Chapter Eleven**

The immense pride Nathan felt course through his veins as he pressed the send button on the e-mail he'd had open all day was unprecedented. He leaned back in his chair and stretched his arms satisfyingly over his head while he glanced up at the clock on the wall. He flopped his arms back down to the sides of his body with a heavy sigh as he realised just how late it was. He'd been so caught up in his work he hadn't realised that all of the day, and most of the night had passed him by.

The only task he had ticked off his To Do list yesterday at work had been e-mailing the person in Accounting for the correct slides, so to say that Friday had been an unproductive day would be a complete understatement. It was actually incredibly pathetic how little he'd managed to get done in the eleven hours he'd been inside the building and he was rather ashamed of that fact. However, the cause of his distraction was anything but shameful; it was sexy, hot… erotic even, and seemed to be something he wasn't going to forget in a hurry, not that he was complaining about that, not in the slightest. He wanted to remember it until the day he died.

The image of Haley lying on his desk, completely naked except for those shoes she had left on her feet, kept on popping into his mind throughout the entire day, proving to be a very efficient distraction, and effectively keeping his mind off work as well as other things too. He fantasised about her all day, going over and over everything that had transpired between them the previous night, replaying it a thousand times in his head. The feel of her legs resting on his shoulders, the noises she had made resounding in his ears, how tight she had felt to him in that position, the way she had looked as he brought her to orgasm, it all raced through his mind on a loop. And twice during the day he'd had to go to the bathroom to relieve himself.

He'd had to concentrate so hard today on not allowing his brain to conjure up those images of her, that he actually felt mentally exhausted for doing so. But at least the presentation had been completed and had now been sent to his bosses, he could literally do no more. And suddenly, at the realisation of this, the visions flooded into his brain, making his cock impossibly hard and his fingers craved to touch Haley, to feel the softness of her skin and watch her orgasm again, because truthfully he didn't think he'd ever seen someone look as beautiful as she did when she came.

He felt immediately relieved that it was a Saturday and his thoughts instantly turned to the lists and which item they could possibly tick off either of them this week. He mentally ran down both of the lists, growing rather frustrated that most of what was left required some planning. He could whip out the video camera this week but something told him that Haley wasn't quite ready for that, and besides, they'd already ticked off one of his fantasies this week, so it was her turn. However, as he mentally scanned her list, the video camera from his own list kept on popping into his head.

He shook his head at himself, wanting to save that one for a time when Haley was a little less self-conscious than she was at the moment, although she was definitely making progress, as Thursday night had more than shown. And as that thought entered his head the item he wanted to tick off suddenly made itself known, for it was one which would help her overcome her shyness some more, hopefully.

With a smile planted firmly on his face, he pushed his swivel chair backwards and walked out of his study, going in search of Haley. He looked in the kitchen and the lounge but she was nowhere to be found so he carried on along the corridor until he got to her bedroom. The door was open so he walked inside and could hear her moving around inside her walk-in wardrobe. Walking over towards it, he stopped in his tracks when he saw piles of clothes scattered across the floor, making it almost impossible to see the carpet. His eyes drifted over the floor as he wondered what the hell she was doing until his gaze hit Haley's bare legs and he brought his eyes up her body slowly, appreciating the shapely curve of her calves. "Jesus Christ." He muttered under his breath when he realised that she was wearing one of his old basketball t-shirts from high school, which had his surname written on the back of it and the number 23, which had been his jersey number on it too.

Haley jumped about ten feet in the air and turned her body around as she held her hand over her heart which was beating at a ridiculous pace. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Nathan standing there, although she did think it was rather strange that he was gawking at her. "You scared the life out of me." She chastised him and then folded her arms across her chest, scowling at him.

The t-shirt was far too large for her still, as it had been about seven years ago when she'd first stolen it from him. He'd seen her wear it countless times before, although granted it had been a while, and yet he'd never had the kind of reaction he was having right now at seeing her wear it. His eyes seemed to be glued to her body and he was unable to move them away from her, not that he wanted to though. The sight of her wearing his clothes, with his name plastered on the back of it, and the number 23 hovering just above her breast was something that turned him on incredibly. It was like she was branding herself as belonging to him and the caveman inside of him growled at the possibility. However, he quickly reprimanded himself for thinking such ridiculous thoughts, it was simply a t-shirt, and she wasn't giving herself to him in any way shape or form.

Haley continued to scowl at him with her arms crossed over her chest as she wondered why the hell he was looking at her so strangely. She'd been ignored all day by him and now he was standing in front of her, staring at her like she'd grown an extra head since the last time he had seen her. "You finally left your cave for the night then?" She asked, breaking the silence that they seemed to be trapped in.

Nathan was jolted out of his confusing thoughts by the sound of Haley's voice, though he had no idea what she'd just said to him. He blinked rapidly and eventually managed to tear his eyes away from her body and lift them to her face, though his eyes kept on darting down to her chest, as if he wanted to check that the '23' was still there and hadn't suddenly disappeared. "Sorry, gorgeous, what did you say?" He asked as he managed to successfully keep his eyes on her face for the duration of his sentence.

"Have you finished all your work?" Haley asked, still wondering what on Earth he was doing, before she looked down and realised that she still had his t-shirt on. She cautiously glanced over at Nathan and ran her eyes down his body, hoping to get a clue as to why he was acting so strangely, when her eyes landed on his crotch, and the fact that he was aroused was evidently clear in his tight jeans.

Nathan's eyes were wandering again and he had to shake his head to get himself in order. He cleared his throat and ran his hands through his hair as he tried to focus on what she had asked him. "Yes, I'm done for the weekend." He responded, his eyes once again falling to her chest, despite his concerted efforts to keep them on her face. It seemed they had a mind of their own though and he was powerless to stop them from doing what they wanted.

Haley nodded her head at his response, pleased that he wouldn't be horded away in his study for the remainder of the weekend at least, though she was still slightly miffed at being ignored for the entire day today. "Well I'd hope so after you spent the whole day working." She returned with a raised eyebrow, as if to say that if he spent so much of a second in that study tomorrow, she wouldn't be responsible for her actions.

Nathan noted the warning tone to her voice and he couldn't help but chuckle at her. "Well, gorgeous, it was entirely your fault that I had to spend the whole day working anyway, so if you want to raise that discerning eyebrow of yours at anyone, you should find yourself a mirror." He responded with a smirk playing at the corners of his mouth.

"Excuse me? How the hell was that my fault? It's not like I demanded a presentation be ready for me to read first thing on Monday morning, was it?" Haley retorted, huffing slightly as she uncrossed her arms and rested both of her hands on her hips.

"No, but you did seduce me in my office on Thursday night, which meant, as expected, that yesterday I was able to do no work whatsoever." Nathan responded with a glint in his eyes.

Haley couldn't help the scoff that escaped from her mouth as she rolled her eyes at Nathan's accusation. "I did not seduce you!" She responded incredulously as she felt a blush quickly cover her cheeks, turning them a shade of deep red.

Nathan also couldn't help the second chuckle he let out as he leaned his body casually against the door frame to her walk-in wardrobe. "Oh no? So what would you call what happened on Thursday night then, gorgeous? I mean, you turned up to my office, dressed in nothing but lingerie covered by a coat and that ridiculously expensive pair of shoes on your feet, teased me, and then had sex with me. If that's not an act of seduction then I don't know what is!" He said playfully. His eyes wandered appreciatively across her face as her blush grew deeper and he watched as she began to bite down on her lip. He smirked at the action, because both he and she knew that she had seduced him, she just didn't want to admit it.

Haley moved her hands from her hips and crossed them protectively across her chest again as she bit down nervously on her lip. She couldn't look at Nathan at the moment, and she hated the fact that he was right, because, of course, what she had done was seduce him, but she was just extremely embarrassed at having done so and didn't want to admit to that behaviour at all costs. It was so completely out of character for her to have done such a thing. She re-ran the events of Thursday night in her head and then snapped her eyes back up to meet Nathan's mirthful gaze, looking like she'd just found a heap of buried treasure. "Actually, if I remember correctly it was you who grabbed me and shoved me on your desk, not me." She responded with a defiant glint in her eyes and another raised eyebrow, daring him to challenge that fact.

Nathan raised his own eyebrow at her incredulously and scoffed again. "That was merely a reaction to you dropping to your knees and giving me head, Hales!"

Haley's mouth dropped open and she stared at Nathan with a bewildered and embarrassed look on her face. "Well I didn't hear you complaining about it, Nathan." She snapped at him, completely and utterly mortified that he was bringing that up.

Nathan knew that he was very close to crossing the line and he could see that she was getting incredibly embarrassed about it all. He smiled at her rosy red cheeks and sighed, shaking his head at her silliness. "You're right, gorgeous, I wasn't complaining about it at all." He responded in a low voice, unable to stop the images of her being on her knees in front of him and taking his hard cock in her mouth from forming in his mind. He snapped his eyes back to Haley and could see that she was staring at him. He cleared his throat, suddenly finding himself rather flustered. "You're... erm... rather good at it."

Haley's mouth closed abruptly. She gazed at Nathan cautiously, wondering if he was having her on or not, but she could see that he was going slightly red and he ran his hand through his hair, a sure tell sign that he was slightly embarrassed, and she couldn't help the grin that spread across her face. She ran her tongue over her lips and looked down at the floor for a second before lifting her gaze back up to meet Nathan's eyes, to find that he was now smirking at her.

"You're actually extremely good at giving head, Hales." Nathan said, managing to gain his composure and he chuckled as she blushed again, only this time she wasn't getting all defensive about it, in fact, as he looked at her he could tell that she was rather pleased with his praise of her immense head-giving skills.

Haley didn't know what the hell to say to that, she was glad, of course, that Nathan didn't think that she was a complete disaster when it came to giving head, and she felt slightly silly as the warm glow resonated through her body while his words sunk in. She glanced away from him again and lowered her hands to her sides, before bringing them in front of her body so that she could play with her fingers, unsure of what she should do or say after that comment of his.

Nathan chuckled at her silence, and decided, kindly, to spare her any more blushes by changing the subject, even though he thoroughly enjoyed watching her skin change colour. He glanced around the room, once again taking in the mess which covered the floor. "So what the hell are you doing in here?" He asked, gesturing with his hands at the mess.

Grateful for the change in subject, Haley smiled at him as she snapped herself out of her thoughts. "Well since you were ignoring me all day I decided to clean out my wardrobe." She responded, and then bent down to pick up a pile of clothes she'd placed in a heap on the floor and began to hang them up.

Nathan watched as she reached up to place the clothes she was hanging up on the high bar which ran across the length of the room, noticing that his t-shirt was revealing rather a lot of skin on her legs. He couldn't help but wonder if she had anything else on underneath it, such as a pair of shorts or some panties, or whether she was going commando. The thought alone was enough to make him want to shove his hands into his boxers and provide himself with some much needed friction. "And you're wearing my old t-shirt because…"

Haley turned around so that she could look at Nathan over her shoulder. "Oh, I found it again and decided to try it on. I haven't worn it in years! Do you remember how I used to wear it to all your games?" She asked with a smile on her face as she remembered sitting through hours and hours of his basketball games.

Nathan couldn't remember anything of the sort. Of course he'd known that she had taken the shirt from him but he couldn't recall her looking like this in it. He couldn't remember being so turned on by the sight of her wearing something of his, of having the urge to run his finger around her breasts until her nipples showed through the fabric. He'd never really understood why men grew so turned on by women wearing their own clothes, past girlfriends of his had borrowed shirts, shorts and t-shirts from him and he'd thought nothing of it, until now. However, he now understood just how sexy it was to see a woman wearing something that belonged to you. He was vaguely aware of the fact that Haley had spoken to him but he couldn't remember what she had said, however, luckily for him she continued talking, obviously not expecting an answer from him.

"Anyway, I really thought that you'd stolen it back or something because it was nowhere to be found. I'm kind of surprised you let me keep it though, you were in a strop for weeks when I took it off you!" Haley said as she continued to hang up the clothes she wanted to keep, doing her best to have some kind of order about it so that she wouldn't think she'd lost any more items, such as she'd thought about the t-shirt she now had on.

Nathan could vaguely recall being in rather a big mood when Haley refused to give him back his t-shirt all those years ago, but now he was rather pleased at how stubborn she'd been about the whole thing. Hell, he'd give her every single item of clothing he owned, even the ones he was wearing at the moment if she was going to look that sexy in them. He watched, completely mesmerised with the way the loose fitting t-shirt moved on her body as she continued to hang clothes, not saying anything, just simply appreciating the view.

Haley cast her eyes back at Nathan every now and then, not being able to help the fact that she continued to notice the bulge in his jeans and she laughed quietly to herself as she continued with her task. She hummed quietly to herself, making quick work of hanging her clothes back up on the rails, though she had a huge amount of clothing left to hang. After five minutes of nothing but silence from Nathan, she hung up the turquoise top she had in her hands and then turned herself around to face him. "You're staring." She stated with a playful smile spread across her face.

Aware that Haley had stopped hanging clothes and was now standing there looking at him with a huge grin on her face, calling him out for staring at her, Nathan pulled himself out of his fantasies and even had the courtesy to look a little bit sheepish at having been caught. He licked his lips as his eyes once again moved over that t-shirt. He wanted to take a picture of how she looked it in because it was seriously hot, but he wasn't really sure if she would be okay with that, in fact he was one hundred percent sure she wouldn't be okay with it at all. "I like the way my t-shirt looks on you." He responded honestly, shrugging as if it was no big deal.

Haley's smile grew even wider. "I know you do." She responded nonchalantly, and then turned herself away from him to pick up another item of clothing from the floor, continuing with her organising.

Nathan frowned as he processed Haley's words and he didn't quite know how to respond to her. He couldn't help but wonder how she supposedly knew that he liked her wearing his t-shirt. "How?" He asked, incredibly confused at her sudden psychic abilities.

Haley turned back around to face him once she had placed her item of clothing on the rail. "Hmmm? How what?" She asked, wondering what he was going on about now.

"How do you know that I like you wearing my t-shirt?" Nathan questioned, still unable to help the way his eyes swept over her body.

Haley raised her eyebrow at Nathan and watched as his eyes continued to roam over her body, as they had been ever since he walked into the closet with her. She waited patiently for his eyes to return to her face and when they did a good few minutes later, she couldn't help the giggle that escaped from her mouth. "Well for one thing, you've not been able to keep your eyes from wandering all over it, and then there's... well... you know." She mumbled the last part as her cheeks once again turned impossibly red.

Nathan would admit to the staring but he had no idea what the second thing she was referring to was. "No, I don't know, Hales. What are you going on about?" He asked.

Haley suddenly grew very flustered, picking up a dress from the floor and trying to hang it up, though where she was aiming the hanger at the rail was completely wrong and so she looked like she was trying to hang the dress from thin air. After a few tries at trying to hang the dress she grew frustrated and sighed heavily, hanging the dress correctly on the rail with a fair bit of force so it swung back and forth after she had released it. She turned to Nathan and saw that he was waiting with an expectant expression on his face. "You know..." She said, wondering how he could act like he didn't have a clue what she was going on about.

"No, gorgeous, I really don't know." Nathan responded seriously. "I haven't got a clue what you're going on about."

Completely exasperated with him, Haley sighed once again. "How can you not know!" She said incredulously, and then took in Nathan's still blank expression. She rolled her eyes and bent down to snatch a top off the floor. She stretched herself out into an upright position and looked Nathan right in the eyes. "You're jeans are looking a bit tight. That's what I was referring to."

Nathan couldn't help that he erupted into a round of full on belly laughter.

Haley huffed at him and returned to hanging her clothes up on the rails. Nathan's laughter wasn't dissipating and she grew extremely irritated with him. She turned around and glared at him, waiting for him to shut the hell up.

The expression she had on her face wasn't helping Nathan calm down at all. She looked embarrassed, annoyed and really very sexy at the moment, and he couldn't seem to stop his laughter, no matter how hard he tried. "Sorry, gorgeous… I mean… you're just hilarious." He said and then continued on a whole new round of laughter.

"Well I'm glad I amuse you, Nathan." Haley retorted, really wishing that he would just stop laughing at her.

"Gosh, you're just… I mean, after the things we've done together, you think you'd be able to say that I had a hard on, rather than having to say that my jeans are looking tight!" Nathan managed to get out in between his giggles. Eventually he managed to calm down and could see that Haley was less than impressed with his behaviour. He cleared his throat and took a deep breath, knowing that he needed to do some desperate damage control. "My t-shirt does look very nice on you though, much better than it ever looked on me."

Once again, Haley raised her eyebrow at Nathan and rolled her eyes at his obvious attempt at a compliment. She knew he meant it though, because she'd seen the evidence of his arousal, and unless he was turned on by girls' clothes being thrown messily on the floor, which she figured was pretty unlikely, it had to be her who had done that to him. So she decided to forgive him for laughing at her.

Nathan watched happily as Haley continued to hang her clothes up, making no move to offer to help her because he knew that she'd just refuse anyway, because she'd only end up shouting at him for doing it wrong. And besides, he was having far too much fun eyeing her in his t-shirt, still playing the guessing game with himself, for he had absolutely no idea as to what she had on underneath it. "You know it's Saturday, right?" He said casually after a good ten or so minutes of silence.

Haley's back was turned to Nathan as he spoke and she couldn't help the smile that fluttered across her face at his casual mention of what day it is. She also couldn't help the rush of anticipation which coursed through her entire body as thoughts of what they'd be doing later raced through her mind. She paused for a beat before she continued to hang up the remaining clothes. "I do know its Saturday." She responded nonchalantly.

Nathan nodded his head in response, even though Haley wasn't looking at him to acknowledge it. He ran his hand through his hair, wondering how best to bring this up. All of a sudden, he felt incredibly nervous because he wasn't sure if the goalposts had been changed this week, after all, they'd actually technically ticked something off their lists this week, and despite how much he wanted them to do something tonight, he wasn't sure what page Haley was on with regards to this. "So..." He said, and watched as Haley turned around to face him. He swallowed thickly, unsure of what the hell else he should say.

Haley could feel the smile playing at the corners of her mouth as she watched Nathan struggle to continue this line of conversation any further. Of course, she knew exactly where this was headed, at least, she hoped she knew where this was headed because ticking something off their lists had been on her mind the entire time she'd been waiting patiently for Nathan to finish with his stupid work. When she'd become bored with waiting for him she decided to tackle her closet, purely for something to keep her mind occupied on something other than what they'd be hopefully doing this week. "So..?" She said, managing to keep the smile from forming fully.

Nathan once again cleared his throat and shuffled from one foot to the other. He mentally chastised himself because not long ago he'd been laughing at Haley for being unable to say the word 'hard on' and now here he was, unable to ask her if she wanted to tick something off their lists or not tonight. He quickly pulled himself together and told himself to stop being so nervous. It wasn't the end of the world if she said no, there would always be next weekend. He did wonder why it suddenly felt like it would be the end of the world if she did say no to him though. But, he wouldn't know unless he actually asked. "So… erm… were you… I mean… do you want to, you know, do something tonight?" He asked, shaking his head at how pathetic he suddenly sounded.

Haley giggled quietly to herself at his awkwardness, which she hated to admit was actually rather cute and endearing, and picked up another dress from the floor. She collected herself, mindful that she didn't want to burst into laughter right away and continued to hang her clothes. "Sure, what did you have in mind?" She asked, and then before he had a chance to answer she began to talk again. "I mean, we could go out for dinner, go to the movies, watch something on TV…"

Haley clearly didn't understand what Nathan was trying to articulate. He sighed in frustration at himself and ran a hand through his hair. "Erm… well that wasn't quite what I was hinting at… not that any of what you suggested sounds like a bad way to spend a Saturday night with you, it's just, I had… other things on my mind." He managed to say, rather pleased that he was able to get that out given how flustered he felt. Surely she wouldn't be able to misread his intentions now.

The smile was now growing on Haley's face so she had to quickly turn her head away from Nathan and bite down on her lip to stop herself from laughing completely. "Oh?" She said as casually as she could muster. "So what kind of thing did you have in mind?" She was rather enjoying the fact that the tables had now turned and Nathan was the one squirming rather than her. She was also incredibly glad that he had brought the list ticking up rather than her because she would have completely melted into an embarrassing puddle of goo if this had been her talking and Nathan teasing.

God, Nathan had absolutely no idea why he was acting like an angst filled, nervous teenager and it was pissing him the hell off. He decided it must be the damn t-shirt, because ordinarily, he would be confident in this sort of thing, ordinarily, he'd have no problem whatsoever in initiating anything with Haley, as the weekends they'd spent doing this arrangement of theirs had shown. But the damn t-shirt she was wearing had dazzled him completely, rendering his brain useless. Yes, it was the stupid, high school t-shirt's fault. Deciding that he didn't want to let the t-shirt beat him, because, seriously, who in their right mind would, he took a deep breath, closed his eyes for a couple of seconds and refocused. However, when he opened his eyes, Haley had sunk to the floor and had emptied out her lingerie drawer, and was proceeding to sort out all kinds of sexy, lacy, cotton and satin garments, which frazzled his brain completely. He was seriously fucked.

Haley did her best to look innocent as she began to tidy up her bras, but when she decided to take a risky glance just to see Nathan's reaction, she couldn't help but laugh at the shocked look on his face because it really was hilarious.

Nathan scowled as he heard Haley laugh at him and he managed to tear his eyes away from the red lace she was holding in her hands. "You're doing that on purpose." He said, pissed off at himself for reacting so predictably to her little show.

Haley placed her red bra on the floor and covered her mouth with her hand in an attempt to prevent herself from laughing at Nathan some more. "I'm sorry, but I had to get you back for earlier and you're just so easy!" She returned mirthfully.

Nathan's scowl deepened and his eyes narrowed, before he realised that he was probably overreacting to all of this and then his expression softened into a smile of his own, shaking his head at his best friend who was still sat on the floor surrounded by lace, satin and cotton. He blinked at her a few times, before taking a deep breath, realising that he had been stupid before and that there really was nothing he needed to be nervous about, if she said no, she said no. It really wasn't a big deal. "So did you want to go out tonight or did you want to carry on with our routine?" He asked, and waited with baited breath for her answer, because clearly, to him this was a big deal, no matter how many times he tried to tell himself otherwise.

Haley knew the moment of playing games with each other and teasing was over, she could tell from the very serious expression on Nathan's face as he waited for her answer. She bit down on her lip, stalling for time for no apparent reason because of course she already knew what her answer would be, she already knew without even thinking about it that she wanted them to continue with their routine, despite already having ticked something off the lists this week. She was really rather happy that Nathan had brought it up because it made her feel slightly better that he seemed to want it just as much as she did. She could sort of justify her feelings because it was clear that Nathan felt the same way as she did, so it didn't matter that she was excited about it, or was looking forward to it, because he was too.

Nathan was growing more and more agitated with every silent second which passed. If she was going to say no, he wished that she would simply come out and say it quickly and just put him out of his misery. He wasn't sure if he was crossing some invisible line by making this suggestion, he wasn't sure if he should have just suppressed his wishes of being with her tonight and acquiesced with her request of them going out for dinner, or whatever it was that she had suggested. The silence they were enveloped in eventually got to the point where his mind was spinning and he irrationally felt like he would spontaneously combust if he didn't have an answer from her in the next five seconds. "Well gorgeous?" He prompted, hoping that she would now provide him with an answer to his question.

Nathan's voice jolted Haley out of her thoughts and she smiled up at him from her position on the floor. No matter how determined she was not to be embarrassed about wanting this though, her cheeks betrayed her and she could feel the blood rush underneath her skin, no doubt tainting her skin with a rosy colour. She cleared her throat and looked into Nathan's blue eyes. "I'd like to carry on with our arrangement." She responded and then ran her tongue along her lips which suddenly felt far too dry.

Nathan managed to suppress the relief he felt once Haley's words registered in his brain, for he wanted to play it cool given that she'd already made enough of a flustered fool of him tonight. For some absurd reason though, he felt like throwing a fist pump in the air, which was most strange. Luckily, he managed to restrain himself, placing his hands firmly at the sides of his body and instead opted for planting his signature smirk across his face, pleased that cool, calm, collected, and maybe slightly horny Nathan, was now in the building, which was far more like it. "Good. Seeing as you got to pick something on Thursday, I figured it was my turn, is that okay?" He said, still unable to stop smirking.

Haley could feel her stomach drop slightly. "Erm, well that depends, whose list are you going to use?" She asked hesitantly, because there was no way in hell that she was going to let Nathan video them having sex. She still wasn't sure if she'd ever be okay with him doing that, it just seemed… weird.

Nathan chuckled quietly at her hesitation, and he knew in that instant that his earlier assessment of Haley not being ready for the video camera was right. It was most certainly going to be something that he was going to have to work her up to doing. And he didn't mind that one bit, he could fully understand her reservations about it. "Don't worry, gorgeous, I have something from your list on my mind for tonight." He responded and shook his head to himself when he saw her shoulders relax in relief, managing to stifle his chuckle.

Haley instantly felt herself perk up now that she knew the video camera wouldn't be making an appearance this evening. She smiled brightly at him. "So what were you thinking then?" She asked as the possibilities of what she'd written down on her list ran through her mind. She was briefly puzzled for a moment because there weren't that many things left on her list which didn't require some prior planning, and as far as she'd been aware, Nathan had been locked away in his study all day.

Nathan's smirk grew into a full on smile, the images of what they'd be doing in a little while running through his mind. He took a couple of steps forward, closing the distance that was between them and held out his hand for Haley. "Come on and I'll show you." He said.

The anticipation immediately coursed its way through Haley's veins. She didn't have a clue what Nathan wanted them to do tonight, and some of the items left on her list were a bit questionable, and she wasn't sure if she was truly ready to do them yet. She bit down on her lip and glanced wearily up at him and when she saw the expression on his face, all her anxiety melted away and was replaced by this intense hunger which reflected exactly what she saw in him. She was one hundred percent positive that he wouldn't want her to do anything he didn't think she was ready for, and she trusted him implicitly. She lifted her arm out in front of her and clasped her hand into Nathan's, allowing him to pull her to her feet.

Nathan led himself and Haley out of her closet and walked the over to her bed. Once he was standing at the foot of it, he turned himself around and allowed his eyes to wander over Haley's body, still appreciating how sexy she looked in his t-shirt, and not letting go of her hand. His eyes eventually found their way up to her face and he could see that she was trying to quash her trepidation, trying to hide it from him. He smiled softly at her, knowing that he was probably going to push her limits a little bit with what he wanted her to do tonight, but equally believing that she was ready to do something like this too. "Just relax, gorgeous, we're not going to do anything you don't want to do. If you're not happy with anything, just tell me and we'll stop, okay?" He said, hoping to soothe away some of her fear and insecurities as his thumb traced idle circles on her hand which was firmly clasped in his.

Haley nodded her head at Nathan and gave him a small smile in return, pleased that he was as understanding as he was. She felt incredibly lucky to have such an amazing best friend, and as his thumb kept on tracing patterns on her hand, she felt her nervousness gradually fade. She watched as he took a step forward, his eyes locked on hers and he smiled at her before he dipped his head and began to place feather light kisses across her neck. She closed her eyes, allowing herself to get lost in the feel of his silky lips moving over her skin and moaned softly when he reached her pulse point.

Nathan placed another lingering kiss on her pulse point and then ran his nose up the column of her neck until he reached her ear, inhaling as he went because she always smelt so damn good. He nibbled on her earlobe, hearing Haley's gentle moans fill the otherwise quiet room. "Do you remember I did something on Thursday night, which had your rapt attention?" He whispered hotly in her ear, memories of the way she had looked at him that night filling his mind and causing his cock to harden.

Haley's mind was so hazy she could barely think straight. She had wrapped her arms around Nathan's neck and she feared if she let go of him that she would crumble to the floor. The anticipation was slowly killing her. "I remember you doing a lot of things on Thursday night which had my full attention." She responded breathily and then groaned loudly when she felt him tug on her ear before releasing it.

Nathan couldn't help the smirk which spread across his face and he released Haley's ear from between his teeth and moved his head back down to her neck, continuing to pepper her skin with soft kisses. "Well that's true enough." He mumbled against her neck, his hands running up and down her back, pushing her body closer to his. "But there was something I did which you seemed to be completely caught up in staring at. Do you know what I'm referring to?"

Haley shook her head because she had no idea what he was talking about. Was he talking about the wall? Was that what he wanted to do tonight? Or was it something else? She could barely remember that she needed to breathe, let alone think, so she shook her head again. "No." She mumbled.

Nathan's mouth continued to move across to the other side of Haley's neck, lavishing it with just as much attention as he'd given the previous side. He moved one of his hands further up her back to where her arms were wound around his neck and grabbed onto one of them, capturing her hand in his as she released her grip on his neck. Moving her hand down his body with his own, he moved it over his hip and then cupped her hand over his very clear and visible arousal. "Does that give you a clue?" He said huskily.

Haley lolled her head back as she felt Nathan's mouth continue to work her skin expertly. She could feel herself becoming more and more turned on and from what her fingers were feeling, it was clear Nathan felt the same way. His grip on her hand loosened and as she felt his hand move away, hers lingered along his length. She ran her fingers along his shaft through his jeans and felt him flinch at the contact, before he let out a low groan when she wrapped her hand around his length as best she could given all the material which was in the way. "I still don't understand what you want to do tonight, Nathan." She said, because his so-called clues were giving her no help at all.

Nathan wrapped his hands around the back of her thighs and slowly brought them upwards. He was still wondering what mysteries were underneath that t-shirt of his, and although he was eager to find out, he also wanted to savour the feel of her silky smooth skin underneath his fingertips. Haley was still touching his cock through his jeans and boxers, and even though the touch wasn't nearly enough to satiate his need, it still felt incredibly good to have her hands on him. His mouth was still moving along her neck, relishing in simply being able to be with her like this, he felt like he was the luckiest bastard on the planet at the moment. And if she agreed with what he wanted them to do tonight, he was going to get even luckier. "I want to watch you touch yourself." He mumbled against her skin, groaning not only at the feel of her hand clenching around his now throbbing cock but also at the images which infiltrated his mind.

Haley's movement of her hand halted completely. He wanted to what? She instantly grew slightly panicked, and mentally scanned her own list, wondering if she'd actually written that down. And then she remembered that she had. She frowned slightly, still feeling Nathan's mouth moving along her neck and she wondered briefly if she could actually do that while he was watching her. It wasn't like she hadn't got herself off before, but that she'd never done it before with an audience. But then she remembered how sexy it had been watching Nathan on Thursday and the fact that she could physically feel his excitement at the prospect of being able to watch her do that to herself caused some of her initial fear to fade away. And besides, Nathan had told her that if she didn't want to do it she could always say no.

Nathan's hands were still moving up Haley's thighs and he was getting more and more excited because he was quite close to her hips now and so far he hadn't hit any material. The idea of her wearing a sexy pair of lace shorts, or maybe even nothing, had his cock literally twitching to be touched again, given that Haley's hand had stopped moving along it. However, he pushed his excitement aside and stopped his own hands from moving any further up her legs, because first he wanted to make sure that she was okay with what he was suggesting.

Haley felt Nathan's mouth place a lingering kiss on her neck before he pulled his head away and looked her squarely in the eyes. She could see the excitement and anticipation, as well as the hunger in his bright, sparkling blue eyes and she took a couple of deep breaths. After berating herself a couple of times for writing something so personal down on her list, she realised that she was being slightly hypocritical, because wasn't that the whole point of this arrangement? And she couldn't help the fact that the image of watching Nathan come from his own touch kept popping up in her mind, and it made her stomach tingle with the possibility of being able to watch that happen. It practically made her want to rip the t-shirt off her body and get the hell on with it.

Nathan stared into her deep, brown eyes, wanting to make sure that his Haley-reading skills were put to their full use, because the last thing he wanted to do was make her feel uncomfortable. "Remember, gorgeous, you can always say…" He started, but was soon interrupted by Haley.

"No, I want to." Haley said forcefully, just so that he knew that she wanted this too. She then bit down on her lip and bashfully looked down at the ground for a brief second, before gathering her courage and moving her eyes back up to Nathan's. "But I want to watch you touch yourself too, properly this time. And watching someone do that is also on my list too…"

God she was quite possibly the hottest woman on the planet. The blush, the biting of the lip, the innocence and shyness, combined with her wanting to do this and asking him to as well, made for an explosive rush of pure lust to run right through his body. He nearly chuckled at the fact that she began to justify the fact that she wanted to watch him touch himself too, because he was one hundred percent sure that once she started touching herself he wouldn't be able to help his wandering hands from moving to his cock. "Okay." Nathan responded, and then flashed her his smirk again as his hands continued their trail up her thighs. "I've been wondering what you've got on underneath here ever since I found you in your closet."

Haley bit down on her lip again as she felt Nathan's hands move further underneath the t-shirt and further up her thighs. She flinched slightly when his touch lightened for a second because it tickled her, but then she felt his fingers apply more pressure to her skin, and she continued to watch him, seeing his eyes become darker and darker with each centimetre his hands travelled up her legs.

The probability that she was wearing nothing was increasing with every millimetre his hands moved up, and that was exciting Nathan no end. He grounded as he passed the point where he estimated her lacy shorts would begin and felt his heart rate increase when the spot where high leg panties would be, still finding nothing there. His hands were now caressing her bare backside, moving closer and closer towards each other and he heard a moan escape from Haley's mouth in response to his ministrations. The tops of his fingers then grazed over some material and he couldn't help the groan that left his mouth when he realised that Haley was wearing a damn thong. "Take off the t-shirt, gorgeous, I want to see you." He commanded and watched in satisfaction as her hands moved to the hem of his t-shirt.

Haley gripped onto the bottom of the t-shirt and slowly lifted it up slightly. As soon as the t-shirt had moved past her torso, she heard Nathan groan and she quickly moved it off her body, wanting to see his face as he saw her underwear.

It was sheer. The bra and the thong were made of this sheer black material, which meant that he could see everything. His eyes didn't know where to look, because there was the bra where he could see her nipples through it, and then there was her thong which he could see everything through and then there was her beautiful face. His eyes rested on her face and his hands moved up past her backside and rested on the small of her back, where he began to rub small circles with his thumbs over her skin. He watched as Haley's eyes closed and he lowered his mouth down to her ear. "You look really fucking sexy in this, Hales." He muttered, before moving his hands off her body completely and taking a step back, putting some distance between them.

Haley's breathing was by now incredibly deep and she could feel her chest rising and falling in time with her breaths. She watched hesitantly as Nathan took a step back and his eyes swept over her body. She would have thought that she would have felt incredibly vulnerable in that moment, standing in front of her best friend in nothing but some very see-through underwear especially knowing what she was about to do as well, but surprisingly she felt rather empowered and dare she even think that she felt a kind of naturalness about this situation, like it wasn't strange, like she didn't have anything to hide. She knew deep down that she had Nathan to thank for that, he seemed to have this natural ability to make her feel at ease in any situation, especially strange ones like this. She took a deep breath and like she had on Thursday, she gathered all her inner confidence and moved herself onto the bed, laying herself down on top of the covers.

Nathan was rather shocked that he hadn't had to coax Haley onto the bed, or to encourage her to begin. He was also rather proud of the fact that she felt comfortable enough to do this in front of him. He wasn't one hundred percent sure that he'd even get that t-shirt of his off her body once she knew what he had planned this evening and was extremely grateful of the fact that she wanted to do this too. If he'd have seen an ounce of concern in her eyes as she told him that this was okay, he would have stopped it himself, no matter how much he wanted to see her do this. He'd seen the flash of apprehension cross her eyes at the first mention of him watching her, which he'd expected, but that had changed into this burning anticipation when she told him she wanted to do this, and as he perched himself on the edge of the bed and looked for her, he could see that anticipation burning incredibly brightly in her eyes. "Show me." He said huskily, unable to even fathom just how sexy and erotic this was going to be.

Somehow, Haley managed to push all of her ridiculous thoughts aside and concentrated on herself. She closed her eyes and tried very hard to forget that Nathan was watching her, and imagined that she was all alone and slowly trailed her hand along the edge of her sheer bra. Bringing her hand closer to her nipple, she trailed her index finger around her right nipple languorously and after a few circuits; she then brushed her thumb across her nipple, moaning softly at the contact. Pinching it between her index finger and her thumb, she rolled her nipple and then tugged on it, before she released it and then arched her back upwards off the bed so that she could take her bra off.

Nathan watched as Haley threw her bra off of the side of the bed and he groaned softly now that her breasts were free from their confines. Watching as her finger once again began to trail around her nipple again, he quickly took his own t-shirt off, not wanting to miss anything. He threw it off the bed and watched with rapt attention as her other hand began to trail softly down her stomach. He watched as she arched her back off the bed slightly and flinched at the movement of her hand, which he could see was moving extremely lightly over her skin. With her legs spread open and her knees in the air, she trailed her hand over her thong and very gently brushed her finger over her clit, which caused an extremely sexy moan to fall from her mouth.

Haley continued to move her fingers further down her thong and could feel the evidence of her arousal through the sheer material. She added some pressure and then trailed her finger back up towards her clit, moaning louder this time as her finger moved across it due to the additional force of her fingers, which made it feel so much better than the graze she'd given her clit previously. Her other hand was still playing with her nipple, and she was beginning to crave more pressure from her hand, and so she moved her fingers back up to the waistband of her thong and slipped her hand inside, her middle finger trailing down further as she began to move it around her clit in languorous circles.

Nathan's eyes were completely trained on what Haley's hands were doing to her body, but he occasionally glanced up at her face, to find her eyes closed and to see her biting down on her lip, the odd soft, sexy moan falling from her lips. He watched, completely mesmerized as her hand continued to slowly move around her clit, the sheer material making it rather easy for him to see, and when she dipped her middle finger down further and slid it ever so slightly inside of what he knew to be an incredibly warm, tight pussy, he jumped off the bed and hastily removed his jeans and boxers from his body, because his cock was literally begging for attention and he couldn't ignore it any longer. He watched as she slipped another finger inside of her pussy through the material and he groaned. "Jesus Christ, Hales."

Haley's eyes snapped open as she heard Nathan mutter something under his breath. She'd pretty much completely forgotten that he was there, and she stopped moving her fingers in and out of her pussy for a brief moment as her eyes appraised him. However, as she watched him crawl back onto her bed, completely naked, and then grip onto his extremely large cock with his hand, she almost growled and then hastily removed her hand from her thong so that she could take it off her body completely.

Nathan gripped his cock more firmly with his hand as he watched Haley take off her thong, flinging it off the side of the bed much like she'd done with her bra. She was now completely naked and looked absolutely stunning. His eyes swept over her body hungrily as his hand started to move up and down his shaft slowly. He watched as her hand crawled down her stomach again and then slipped down into her folds. The way her body arched off the bed as she pushed two of her fingers inside of her body was incredibly sexy, and his hand automatically moved up and down his cock quicker in response. His eyes quickly moved up to her face and as he looked at her eyes he could see that hers were completely trained on his cock, watching his hand's every move. God there was something so utterly erotic about that. "You like what you see, gorgeous?" He groaned out.

Haley more than liked what she was seeing. Her eyes moved up to Nathan's face for a split second and she saw that his eyes were moving back down her body until they locked on where her hands continued to move in and out of her body. She bit down on her bottom lip and increased the speed of her fingers slightly, shifting her thumb so that she could begin to trace small circles over her clit. She looked back down at Nathan's cock and could see that his hand had increased its pace too. "Mmm, I do." She moaned, arching her fingers inside of her pussy as she dragged them out of her body, causing her hips to buck off the bed at the contact. She heard Nathan mutter an expletive under his breath as she lowered her hips back down to the mattress. "You like what you see?"

"God, yes, it's so hot watching you touch your body like that, Hales." Nathan managed to groan out. His mind felt like it was going to explode at any given second. He'd watched other girls get themselves off before, but it had been ridiculous in all honesty and he hadn't really enjoyed it. Their moaning would be silly and false and they'd say things just because they thought they sounded sexy. Haley was completely different though, he knew that when she moaned it was honest and true and watching her fuck herself like this was just so mind blowing he was surprised he hadn't keeled over and had a heart attack.

Nathan's hand was moving furiously over his cock and Haley's fingers moved in and out of her own body at a matched rate, her thumb still moving over her clit which was causing her orgasm to build very quickly. She bit down on her lip as she curled her fingers once again, brushing them over that very sensitive spot deep inside of her. "God, I'm so close." She murmured, bringing her free hand up to her breast so that she could play with her nipples. Her eyes couldn't seem to move from Nathan's cock but somehow she managed to move them up to his face again, and could tell from the expression on his face that he was close too.

With a couple more strokes of his cock, Nathan clenched his eyes shut for a brief second as his cock throbbed in his hand, his orgasm overwhelming him completely. He continued to stroke his cock and opened up his eyes again when he heard Haley moan loudly, her eyes focussed entirely on his cock as he came in his hand. He watched as she played with her nipple and then his gaze dropped lower, to where he could see her fingers moving in and out of her glistening pussy. "Come on, gorgeous, let me see you come."

With those words, Haley rubbed her clit with her thumb, applying a fair bit of pressure and she felt her entire body explode as her orgasm made her entire body shudder. She curled her toes into the covers of her bed and bit down on her lip, her loud moans filling the quiet room. She slowed the movements of her hands as she rode out her orgasm and opened her eyes, finding Nathan's gaze locked on her hand. As she removed her fingers from her body, she watched with confusion as Nathan crawled towards her and gripped onto her wrist.

"I want to taste." Nathan said huskily as he brought her hand up to his mouth and sucked on her fingers, licking her clean. He groaned as her taste filled his mouth and watched as Haley's eyes closed briefly.

Haley felt Nathan release her hand and she brought it back down to rest on the bed. Her entire body felt incredibly heavy, and she was so very tired. She blinked up at Nathan and watched as his eyes ran over her body again, lingering over every single inch of her.

Nathan couldn't help the fact that his eyes were exploring her body so thoroughly. Her chest was rising and falling deeply and she had a beautiful soft tint to her body. He was completely mesmerised by her, and there was a part of him that wanted to do more with her tonight, even though he should have been completely satisfied.

Haley stretched her arms up above her head and then heard her stomach rumble. She watched as Nathan smirked at her from where he was still kneeling on the bed and she felt the blush begin to tint her cheeks.

Nathan's smirk turned into a chuckle as he watched Haley's cheeks blush. "I guess I'd better feed you then, huh?" He teased as he moved himself off the bed and found his boxer shorts.

Haley raised her eyebrow at Nathan and watched as he pulled his boxers up his legs. "I think we both know that I'll be feeding myself, Nathan."

"And what's that supposed to mean? Are you suggesting that I'm incapable of cooking you a meal?" Nathan responded in challenge.

Haley scoffed. "The only meal you can cook is a fry up for breakfast!"

"I can cook more than a fry up! How do you think I survived before you moved in?" Nathan returned.

Haley got herself up from the bed and grabbed her silk robe, covering up her body. "I think the drawer full of old take out menus shows exactly how you survived before I moved in."

"Most of them are yours anyway!" Nathan returned incredulously. "And I told you to throw them out but you were the one who wanted to keep them!"

"Whatever, Nathan." Haley replied, and then before he could respond she walked out of her bedroom and headed in search of food which she would cook them both for dinner.

~*~

On Monday night, Haley found herself waiting outside Nathan's office, the chill of the evening air blowing around her body. She shuffled from foot to foot as she waited by the revolving door, the worry over the significance of this coming weekend rolling through her body relentlessly. She herself was incredibly mournful at this time of year for she had been very close to Lily too. However, she knew that what she was feeling would have to be magnified a thousand and one times before she even came close to understanding the grief Nathan felt over it all, and that thought alone caused the waves of anxiety to increase in strength, like they were trying to sweep her body away with their force.

She was watching the door like a hawk, eager to catch that first glimpse of Nathan so that she could decipher how he was feeling, but each circle of the door revealed someone who wasn't him, and her anxiousness grew with each passing second. She didn't know how long she had been waiting here for him, but what could only be minutes suddenly felt like hours. Eventually, looking incredibly worn and absolutely exhausted, he walked through the door. He glanced over at her and caught her eye, a small and forced smile gracing his lips. She sighed softly to herself, wishing once again that she could somehow magically make this better, but she didn't know or understand what means she had to help him with that.

Nathan dragged his feet over to where Haley was waiting for him. His entire body felt incredibly heavy, like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders. Once he was standing in front of her, he looked into her concerned eyes and wished that he wouldn't cause her all this worry; he wished that he could just move past the whole incident. He knew, of course, that he'd carry it all with him for as long as he stayed on this Earth, but he wished he could deal with it in a way which would appease those around him. He hated being a burden, especially to Haley.

"You look exhausted." Haley said as her eyes swept over his face, taking in the purple rings under his eyes and noticing that the lines on his face seemed more prominent today.

Nathan chuckled quietly and glanced down at his shoes for a second before raising his gaze back up to meet Haley's wandering eyes. He wanted to lie and tell her that everything was fine but there was absolutely no point in him doing so because her eyes saw deeper inside of him than most did, in fact her eyes saw more than he wanted them to if he was being completely honest with himself, but he was helpless to stop it. He knew that his efforts of masking the truth would be completely wasted on her. "I feel exhausted." He responded truthfully and then sighed heavily, not wanting to dwell on this topic of conversation. He hoped that spending some time away from work in the company of his friends at his brother's house would help keep his mind off the significance of this coming weekend for at least a little while and so he was rather eager to get there as quickly as was possible, especially as memories of Lily had pretty much tormented him the entire day at work. "You ready to go?"

Haley desperately wanted to say something to him, she could see the pain behind his eyes and she wanted nothing more than to be able to wipe it all away, to shoulder all of it for him. However, she also knew her best friend better than she knew herself and so she simply nodded her head at him and started walking in the direction of Lucas and Brooke's house. He didn't want to talk about it and that was that. She wasn't going to push him. Not this week anyway because she knew he had far too much already on his mind.

Relieved that once again, despite knowing how much she wanted to bring the whole discussion up, Haley was respecting his wishes by not talking about Lily, Nathan walked alongside her towards their destination. He glanced down at her as he walked, sending her a quick smile of thanks which she returned, albeit sadly. He pleaded with her silently to understand that he'd talk to her when he was ready, finding himself incredibly frustrated that the time wasn't now. He could feel the anger rising inside of him, the shame and guilt of not being strong enough to deal with it all was latching onto every millimetre of his body, and he desperately needed to calm his fury down, especially when they were headed to his brother's house, it wouldn't do to be furious in front of everyone, that would only cause them to speculate and butt in even more than they were currently. However, the torrent of emotions was moving through his body so quickly, he struggled to get a grip and pull himself together. As if reading his mind, as if able to see deep inside of him, he felt Haley's hand tentatively run down his arm until she gripped his hand in hers. Suddenly all the emotions drained away and he was finally able to see clearly again. He moved his hand so that his fingers were laced with Haley's and he gave her hand a gentle squeeze as he glanced at the buildings they were passing across the road, not wanting to look at her. He felt relief that she was with him and a slight feeling of being far too needy at the fact that she had could have such a profound effect on him. However, he was unable to stop the small smile which flittered over his face when he felt Haley squeeze his hand back.

~*~

Dinner had been cleared away and the girls plus Jake were talking freely at one end of the table, while Lucas and Nathan were engaged in conversation at the other end. Haley found herself seated next to Brooke and Jake, and was running her hand up and down her wine glass absentmindedly, trying to keep an eye on Nathan without making it obvious as to what she was doing.

Nathan cursed when he found himself sitting next to his brother. The multiple times a day phone calls hadn't decreased in volume, if anything, Lucas was calling more frequently with each day that had passed. He was aware of Luke trying to talk to him about Lily, but in true Nathan form, he was doing his very best to block out every single word, because he really didn't want to listen. However, when his brother persisted, despite his own obvious attempts to not listen, he grew incredibly frustrated and angry.

Haley tried very hard to pay attention to what Brooke was saying to her but her eyes kept on glancing wearily down to the other end of the table where Lucas and Nathan were sitting. She bit down on her lip nervously as she watched with anxious attention, seeing Nathan literally shaking with fury and Lucas engaging in some hushed whispers with his brother. She didn't have to guess what they were discussing; she knew that there was only one subject which could work the both of them up as much as they currently were. She vaguely heard Brooke continue to tell her about the story of some girl at her work who had dropped coffee all down the boss' shirt during the day but her voice sounded distant and far away inside of her mind, so she could barely hear what she was saying. Instead she concentrated all her efforts on regarding Nathan, making sure that she kept a very close eye on him and his reactions. She wanted to pull him away from Lucas because she could see that he was mere seconds away from losing it but she didn't know if her interrupting and stepping in would cause more damage than allowing him the opportunity of trying to calm down on his own, which she could see he was attempting to do. She was teetering on her tiptoes, getting herself in the perfect position so that she could rush over to drag him away from Lucas if she needed to.

Nathan's heart was beating away incredibly frantically inside of his chest. It was a loud, protruding noise, and to his ears it sounded like a ticking bomb, a bomb which was getting closer and closer to exploding. He glared at the tablecloth in front of him with narrowed eyes, doing his best to rein in his anger and calm his pounding body down somewhat but when Lucas continued to talk to him in hushed whispers about a topic of conversation he desperately didn't want to hear about, it made it ridiculously difficult for him to relax at all. He didn't know why his brother was bothering him about this so incessantly, he'd made his feelings on the topic extremely clear, or so he'd thought. He wasn't going to go and that was it. Just like last year, and the three years before that. What was so difficult about that concept which made Lucas unable to comprehend it? The mild tremble of his hands which were clenched together in fists and were resting on top of the table had grown into a full on shake and he blocked out his brothers words as best he could while he focussed on his hands, willing the anger to dissipate. However, the rage was only growing stronger, it was now searing through his veins like a wild fire and he was quickly losing any control he had over its ferocity.

"… I just don't understand you, Nathan." Lucas whispered as he lifted his head up from where he'd been playing with his napkin and found that his brother wasn't even listening to him. Instead he was staring at his trembling hands with such a heated gaze he wondered if he was actually trying to melt them. Finding himself once again incredibly worried and frustrated with Nathan's actions, especially now when they were so close to the anniversary and he was still doing everything he could to block everything out, he grew utterly exasperated with him and the volume of his voice increased. "I honestly don't even think you give a damn about Lily and what happened at all, you seem to be living in la-la land."

Given the increased volume of his brother's voice, Nathan actually heard what he had said. And that simmering volcano which he had been doing his best to tame completely erupted, his fury rushing through his body, sweeping him and his mind along with it. He immediately banged his fists down on the table with such a force that the glasses on it jumped into the air and landed back down on the surface with a bump. Pushing his chair back with his legs, he stood up, clenching his teeth together as he leaned forward, resting on his fists which were back on the table. Making sure that he was close enough to Lucas so that he could look him in the eyes, he unleashed his fury on his annoying, overbearing, pain in the ass brother, who should know better than to push him on this. "You don't know anything about how I feel over what happened, Lucas. Believe me when I say that you can't even comprehend how I feel. I was there, alright, I saw it with my own two eyes. I felt it, I got the cuts and bruises and scars to prove that I was there. I know it happened. So don't you ever tell me how to deal with this, okay? I'm sick of your holier than thou attitude. I'm sick of you badgering me into doing something just because you think it's the right thing for me to do. If I go, I'll go on my own terms, when I'm ready, and not because you or anyone else for that matter thinks that I should." He roared, breathing in deeply while his arms continued to shake with his anger.

Haley immediately rushed over to Nathan and pulled him away from the table. She could feel his entire body shaking and she dragged him out of the room, berating herself because she should have stepped in earlier before this all got out of hand. Once she had got him out of the room, she stopped moving and stood in front of him, watching as he continued to shake. She didn't know what to do or what he wanted to do. He looked so out of it, she wondered if he even knew what was going on at the moment. She tentatively brought her hand up to his face and softly cupped it with her hand. "Hey." She said softly and watched as his eyes latched onto hers and slowly she saw the shuddering begin to dissipate, though he still looked rather lost, and utterly furious. Once she had his attention she dropped her hand back down to her body. "Do you want to go home?"

Nathan brought both of his hands up to his face and rubbed them aggressively over his skin. He despised the fact that he'd allowed himself to get so worked up about what Lucas was saying to him because in his eyes, the fact that he could even have a damn civilised conversation with his brother about Lily only served to aid Lucas' point, didn't it? He was right; he wasn't dealing with this at all. It had been five years for God's sake. He flopped his hands back down to his sides and nodded his head at Haley, wanting nothing more than to just leave and try to sort through all the crap that was running through his brain. He looked down at her and saw that she was looking at him with a curious and saddened expression plastered across her face. God, his actions were even affecting those around him, more than he could even have thought or imagined, he realised when he took in the look on her face.

"Okay, let me go and tell them all that we're going to head home." Haley responded. She smiled up at Nathan and then left him in the hallway, walking back into the dining room. She was met with the concerned stares of her friends, all waiting to see how Nathan was.

"Is he okay?" Brooke asked, wringing her hands together as they rested on top of the table.

Haley sighed to herself, because she knew that this was the last thing everybody needed, let alone Nathan. Yet she couldn't even place the blame on anybody in particular which made the whole situation even more frustrating than it should be. "He's alright, I'm going to take him home." She watched as her friends nodded slowly back at her, her eyes lingering on Lucas for a second, taking in his apologetic stance.

"Haley, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have gone off at him like that, not so close to... well you know." Lucas responded, unable to finish his sentence. He was so infuriated at himself for losing his cool, because he should know better now that shouting wasn't going to help his brother, and in the end that was all that he was trying to do. He was just so worried about him.

Haley smiled softly at Lucas. "Don't worry, this time of year is hard for all of us, but most of all for you and Nathan. I'm sure he'll calm down once I get him home. Thanks for dinner, Brooke, I'll call you guys later on." With that she walked back out into the hallway, grabbed both her and Nathan's coats and then led them out of the front door so that they could hail a cab and head on home. She found herself worrying constantly about Nathan, unsure of what to say to him because she didn't want to provoke him at all, so instead they rode home in complete silence.

~*~

It was Wednesday morning, and for the first time in an extremely long time, Nathan didn't want to go to work. Yesterday had been a complete waste of his time, and the fact that he'd spent the entire day thinking about Lily instead of working caused him to become more and more frustrated at himself for allowing himself to be bothered so much by the whole situation. He hadn't even sent one e-mail yesterday, instead cancelling all his meetings and spending the entire day trapped in his office, rerunning events over and over in his head, driving himself crazier by the second. Lucas' comments to him over the previous couple of weeks were also milling around in his mind, taunting him because deep down he knew that his brother was right. He hadn't dealt with the situation at all. Instead he'd simply shut himself off from it all, believing that it would be better this way. But the look on Haley's face on Monday night, the concern he saw emanating from right inside of her had caused him to re-evaluate his thoughts on the situation, because the last person in the world he wanted to hurt was Haley.

He'd heard Haley leave the apartment about half an hour ago, and he hadn't made any move to get himself out of bed yet. He turned his head and glanced at the clock, seeing that if he wanted to he could still make it to work. However, there was another way he could spend his day, and it was looking more and more likely that he wouldn't be going to work today, because the other option meant facing up to things which he'd avoided like the plague over the last five years. It meant him finally dealing with Lily once and for all. He wasn't sure if he was ready for it, but at the same time, he knew that if he didn't act on this strange impulse to sort out his thoughts and emotions over the whole Lily thing, that he wasn't sure if he would ever do it at all.

And with that thought, he rolled himself out of bed grudgingly and got himself in the shower, sending a quick e-mail to his boss, explaining that he wouldn't be coming into the office today before he did so. While he was dressing himself, he procrastinated, debating with himself about whether this really was a good idea or not. However, before he could stop himself from going completely, he quickly finished getting himself dressed, grabbed his keys, phone and his wallet and headed down to the underground car park.

Two and a half hours later, Nathan found himself driving into Southampton, Long Island. The familiarity of this town caused a whole host of emotions to rush through his body, but none of them were strong enough to compete with the overwhelming sense of loss he felt. He hadn't been back here for five years, and among any other circumstance, he was sure the memories which were flooding through his mind would cause him to feel happy and welcome, but all they did was remind him of how things used to be, of how things could no longer be.

He knew he wasn't quite ready to face the one place in the town where he knew he needed to go. Not yet anyway. He told himself that it was okay though, he'd build up to being able to get to that point. He was about to wonder where he should go to pass the time, to mentally prepare himself for what he was about to do, when as if on autopilot, he found himself right back where he'd been almost five years ago on that fateful day.

He pulled into a local store and cut the engine, suddenly realising that his hands were shaking so badly that he dropped the keys onto the floor of his car. Cursing to himself, and wishing that he could just get a damn grip on his emotions, he stepped out of the car and scooped his keys up off the floor. After he'd locked the doors, he walked incredibly slowly over to the crossing, almost being blinded by the images which were flicking through his mind incredibly quickly. Slumping himself down on a nearby bench, he stared at the lights changing colour, and at the cars whizzing by. Then he remembered.

"_We belong together, when you left I lost a part of me, is this so hard to believe...."_

"_God, Lily, please stop singing!" Nathan said as he turned off the radio, only she kept on singing along, this time to no music at all._

"_Come back baby please cos we belong together..."_

"_Lily!" Nathan shouted._

"_Oh shut up, Nathan, I'm just singing."_

"_Yeah, you sound like a cat being strangled."_

"_Whatever. You know Mom says I can sing with the angels, you're just jealous."_

_He couldn't help but scoff at her remark, why would he be jealous? However, before he'd had a chance to formulate a response, she'd changed the subject, and thankfully had stopped singing. She sung constantly, and did have a good voice, actually she had a really good voice but Mariah Carey just wasn't the way Nathan rolled. It was hurting him that his car was actually playing that crap and it would do his street cred no good at all if anyone heard it blasting from the stereo of his car._

"_Oh my gosh, Nathan! I can't believe we've done it!"_

_Nathan grinned over at Lily, the irritation over Mariah Carey forgotten, who sitting in the passenger seat of his car and then returned his focus to the road in front of him. "I told you I'd manage to convince them to let you have one, it was all just about taking the time and asking them in the right way. And certainly not having temper tantrums when Mom and Dad kept on saying no to you!" He couldn't help but tease her. Even though she was supposedly 'all grown up' now that she was eighteen, she was still young in his eyes. He had a feeling that she'd always be that way to him, after all, she was his younger sister._

"_Whatever, and it doesn't even matter now because I've got the tattoo, finally. I can't wait to show everybody!"_

"_Lily, you're not going to show anybody that tattoo of yours until you've done all the aftercare bit properly, do you hear me?" Nathan warned her. "In fact, seeing as I need to do mine as well, I'll do yours for you at the same time. The last thing we want is you getting some kind of infection or something."_

"_Blah, blah, blah. I know, Nathan, I was there when the dude told us about the aftercare stuff; I don't need you to repeat it all to me. And I can look after my own tattoo without your help, thank you very much." Lily responded petulantly. "I wonder if Chris will like it. Do you think he will? I really hope he does..."_

_Nathan's hands clenched around the wheel that much tighter, and he remembered the promise he'd made to Haley to be nice about Lily's new boyfriend, especially when the desire to rip his balls off coursed through his veins as he watched him make out with Lily right outside their house the night before. He should have known better than to vocalise that thought with Haley around, but he couldn't help his protective nature. He heard Lily harp on about how 'cool' it was that Chris played guitar, and how much of a great boyfriend he was. He couldn't help the eye roll; she was far too infatuated with this dude for his liking. "When are you going to let me meet him?" He asked impatiently, because he was sure a quiet word in this dude's ear about making sure that he didn't hurt Lily in any shape or form wouldn't go amiss, and it would also make him feel a hell of a lot better._

_Lily gave Nathan a pointed look which he caught given that he had turned his head briefly to look at her. "Well if you think I'm going to leave you alone with him for longer than a second, you've got it all wrong, Nathan. I'm not going to let you scare him off like you did with Ben. It's a wonder any of the guys in school feel brave enough to ask me on a date with you breathing fire at everyone like a dragon. And speaking of dragons, why the hell did you decide to get a dragon tattooed on your shoulder, you never told me why you chose that."_

"_The dragon represents strength, power, freedom and being fearless. That's why I decided to get a dragon tattooed on my body. And I'm glad my little chat with Ben scared him off, it just showed that he wasn't good enough for you, Lils. If Chris doesn't run away after I've had my little talk with him, then we'll know that he's a half decent dude." Nathan replied._

"_Why only half decent?" Lily asked._

"_Because I wouldn't trust him as far as I could throw him." Nathan responded, turning to face Lily just so that he could raise his eyebrow at her._

_Lily couldn't help the huff of air she blew out of her body. "You know, Haley's right, you can be so overbearing sometimes. She said you were and still are exactly the same way with Chase. But he seems like a really nice guy, so why do you still act like a total douche around him?" She asked, folding her arms across her chest._

"_I don't act like a douche, Lily, I just care about Haley, and you for that matter. I don't want to see either of you getting hurt, and I'll do whatever it takes to make sure that never happens. I know what guys are like, I know how they think and how they act." Nathan responded, coming to stop at the crossroads given that the lights had just changed._

"_But you seem to be really happy with Becky. You don't act like an idiot with her, well, you used to but then you sorted all your crap out." Lily observantly pointed out._

_Nathan couldn't help the chuckle which escaped from his mouth. "Yeah, well, the way that I was before Becky became my girlfriend is the way that most boys act, Lily. I hate to disappoint you, but there are very few white knights and a hell of a lot of assholes around. I'm just looking out for both you and Haley, because girls don't tend to be so good at being able to tell the pricks from the princes."_

"_The pricks from the princes?" Lily repeated, unable to help the giggle that escaped from her mouth. "Honestly, Nathan, I know I have to put up with you, but I have no idea why Haley does. It's a wonder that she's still your best friend. You're incredibly lucky to have her, you know. And as much as I love Becky, I still think you and Haley belong..."_

"_Lily..." Nathan warned her, because she was always spouting off this rubbish about him getting together with Haley, which was just stupid in his eyes. She was his best friend and that was it. He watched as the light changed green, glad that she wasn't continuing with her line of conversation and had taken the hint for once. His phone started to ring and as the car inched forward, he ducked his head for just a second to see that Tim was calling him. However, before he'd even had the chance to roll his eyes, because no doubt he was simply calling to tell him about some party over at someone else's house, he felt the car spin out of control and his head hit the window forcefully. He barely registered that the passenger side of the car had been hit by something when he saw the car skidding towards another vehicle. He tried desperately to steer the car away but the speed the car was moving at made his attempts completely futile, and before he knew it, another loud crash filled his ears as the front of his car smashed into a car parked on the street._

_There was this moment of silence. It felt rather peaceful after the chaos that had been the last couple of seconds and Nathan relished in it for a very short while, before his mind finally caught up with him, and he realised what had happened._

_His head was hurting, as was his shoulder but his own pain wasn't his concern. He could hear the worried noises from outside the car begin to get louder and louder as several people moved towards the vehicle, but his only concern was the fact that he couldn't hear anything coming from the passenger seat. There was no groaning, no moaning, no screaming, not even the sound of a shuddering breath. There was simply silence. And it most certainly wasn't the nice silence. This silence was wrong. This silence was robbing a completely innocent life before it had even had the chance to blossom. This silence was filled with excruciating loss, and it was so very, very painful... It was deadly._

Nathan had to close his eyes and turn his head away from the scene of the accident. He blinked a couple of times and took a deep breath, the sunshine beating down at him, creating a bright light across the town which was a stark contrast to the dark and depressing thoughts raging through his brain. Taking a good few minutes to steady himself, he finally knew that now was the time that he was ready. Coming here, reliving what had happened and actually beginning to process it all meant that now was the time when he should go and face his fears, and face the reality of this dire situation.

~*~

Haley found herself biting down on her lip, filled with uncertainty and anxiety while she sat on the train. She'd returned from her run and had showered and got herself ready for work, the fact that Nathan was nowhere to be found not unusual in the slightest. She'd began her walk to the office, pulling out her mobile to call Nathan at work, wanting to ask if he'd be coming home for dinner or not that night, only to have someone else pick up his phone and tell her that he'd called in saying that he wouldn't be coming in today. She had immediately known that something was wrong, because Nathan didn't ever just call in and say he wouldn't be going to work. He'd never actually had a sick day, either, as far as she knew, because he was just that dedicated to his work. And then she'd put together the fact that this weekend was as important as it was and the fact that both her and Lucas had been laying on the pressure a little bit about Lily, and realised that she knew exactly where she'd find him.

~*~

About half an hour later, Nathan found himself walking along the grass to the spot he hadn't been to in just about five years, even though he probably should have been the most frequent visitor here. He could feel the guilt swirling around inside of him as he approached and he did his best to ignore it. Instead he concentrated on every slow, purposeful step of his, making sure that, even if it wasn't very quick, he was still putting one foot in front of the other and was actually getting somewhere. He glanced at his surroundings, seeing flowers of every kind mixed in amongst the grey stone, creating colour and life in a place surrounded by sorrow and sad feelings.

As he grew closer to his destination, his mind was screaming at him to run away, to just turn around and go back home, but he fought against it, because in his heart he knew that he had to do this. It wasn't because of what Lucas, or Haley, or anyone else had said to him. He needed to do this for himself, in fact, deep down, he wanted to do this for himself. He'd been ignoring it all for far too long and it was time to face up to everything he'd been hiding from.

When he reached the spot, he couldn't bring himself to look up, it was as if seeing it would somehow make it all real, and he wanted to remain in the place he'd carved for himself to pretend inside his head for just a little bit longer. However, once he'd grounded himself and taken a few second to try in vain to calm his beating heart and shaking hands, he lifted his head up and focussed on the grey stone in front of him.

**Lily Karen Scott**

**21****st**** March 1987 – 5****th**** June 2005**

**Beautiful and loving daughter and sister**

_**Now she really is singing with the angels**_

Nathan knelt down, reached out and ran his finger over the words carved in the headstone, the sobs rocking through his entire body as the tears rolled down his face. He felt like he couldn't breathe at all and he was struggling to get any air into his body. He fell backwards once he'd traced each letter and rested his head against his knees, remembering, grieving and crying for his sister's life which had been taken away so cruelly.

He began to get angry at himself, blaming himself for it all, the same way that he'd done countless times before. If only he hadn't looked down at his stupid phone.

Then eventually the anger quietened down and the sorrow returned, weighing him down heavily to the ground he was seated on.

He wasn't sure how much time passed, but the sun had moved in the sky, creating different shadows than the ones that had been there when he'd first arrived here. He looked around and couldn't see another person in the cemetery with him and suddenly felt incredibly alone. He wished now that he'd asked Haley to come with him, because he needed her. He needed her strength and her incredible ability to calm him.

He couldn't bring himself to talk to the stone, like he'd seen so many people do in the movies and on television. It seemed stupid to him. It wasn't like Lily would hear how sorry he was for what had happened anyway, because she was gone. She was dead.

He replayed the moments leading up to that crash in his head again, wishing that somehow he'd have known that she was about to breathe her last breath. There were so many things that he would have told her, had he known. But that was the cruel thing about death. Sometimes it crept up on you so unexpectantly. Death showed no compassion and it didn't apologise for being that way either.

The responsibility he felt for the end of her life crashed upon him heavily and he lifted up his blurry eyes to stare at the stone again, wishing that it wasn't her name he was reading on it.

Haley paused for a moment as she saw Nathan in the distance, sat on the floor beside Lily's grave and breathed a short sigh of relief that her instincts had been right. However, the relief was quickly replaced with unwavering anxiety, because she knew that this was the first time he had been to Lily's grave since the funeral, and she wasn't sure how he would be feeling. Especially if she interrupted him. She wasn't sure if she should just turn around and leave, because maybe he hadn't told her he was coming here because this was something he wanted to do on his own.

Nathan sniffed and wiped his wet eyes on his sleeve, however, the tears kept on falling so his attempts at clearing up his face were pretty useless. He couldn't remember if he'd cried at the funeral or not, that entire day was such a blur in his mind. He remembered seeing the various faces of family and friends being all blotchy with tears, but he couldn't recall himself being that way. Maybe he'd been far too shocked to do anything so emotional in front of everybody. Maybe he felt like he didn't deserve to grieve his sister because it had been his entire fault. He couldn't remember anyway, no matter how much he tried to. He heard footsteps behind him, jolting him out of his memories and they were getting closer and closer to where he was sitting. He grew confused for a moment, because the last time he'd checked he'd very much been the only person here. He held his breath and closed his eyes, before his nostrils were filled with the scent of Haley's perfume and the turmoil he felt inside of him cleared for a brief, welcome second.

The sadness Haley always felt when she came here once again rushed through her body and she bit down on her lip as she came to a halt next to where Nathan was seated on the ground in front of Lily's grave. She lowered herself down and placed the flowers she'd bought on her way here down in front of her. She always made sure to buy a bunch of sunflowers, if she could, when she came down here, because they were Lily's favourite. She didn't know what to do, and after a good few minutes, she chanced a look over at Nathan, and her stomach dropped when she saw how much of a mess he looked. "Oh, Nathan." She said softly as the tears welled up in her eyes. She wrapped her arm around his shoulders and moved so that she was closer to him.

Nathan closed his eyes and tried to shy away from Haley, because he didn't want her to see him like this, even though he was so very happy that she'd found him. As soon as her hand had touched his shoulder, he began sobbing again, completely uncontrollably. And after a while, as he felt Haley move closer and closer to him, he gave up fighting and collapsed in her arms. "It's all my fault." He murmured in between his tears.

Haley closed her eyes as she felt her tears spill down her cheeks, feeling Nathan's begin to soak her shoulder. "It isn't Nathan, how can you still think that after all these years? It was the person who jumped the lights fault, not yours." She responded quietly, not knowing what else to say on the subject, because she knew he wouldn't listen to her anyway.

Nathan didn't say anything else, he just cried on Haley's shoulder, the relief at being in the arms of his best friend mixing in with the unmistakable remorse and grief whirling around inside of him. After a while, Nathan moved off of Haley's shoulder and stared back at the grave. He noted the sunflowers that she had brought with her.

Haley watched Nathan looking down at the sunflowers and she smiled softly to herself. "Do you remember the competitions she'd have with your dad every year to see whose would grow the highest? They'd spend ages choosing the perfect plot in the garden and you and Lucas would take the mickey out of them both."

Nathan remembered. He remembered the time Lily had dug up all of his mom's flowers because she was convinced they were taking the prime spot, much to his mom's horror. He found himself suddenly remembering all sort of things which he'd been trying to forget over the years.

Haley looked over at Nathan, seeing that he was lost in his thoughts, though he had an incredibly pained look on his face. She reached over and clasped his hand in hers. "It's okay to be sad Nathan, but you have to remember the good times too. You can't keep losing yourself in memories of that day and not looking past it to all the others. Do you really think Lily would want to be remembered that way?"

Nathan shook his head. He knew that if Lily were here she'd whack him around the head and tell him to stop being so silly. But it wasn't that easy for him to forget the accident. He couldn't.

After a good while of complete silence, Haley squeezed Nathan's hand. "We all really miss you, Lils. Brooke and Lucas are coming up here this weekend, so it won't be too long 'til you get some more visitors. I think Jake and Peyton plan to come along next week too." She said out loud. She found it rather therapeutic, coming up here and chatting to her like she would have done if she were still alive. She wanted to tell her about the marathon and all the training she'd been doing but she'd have to save all that for next time. "Work is still as boring as ever, and your brother is still a pain in the ass, but nothing's new there, huh?" She bumped Nathan with her elbow and saw a smile play at the corners of his mouth, which made her smile too.

Nathan listened as Haley continued to talk about her life, and everyone else's. She told Lily about what he'd been up to, and he wondered if she did that all the time. He rather hoped so because, if by some really weird and mystical way Lily could hear it all, it'd be nice if she knew what was going on in his life too.

Once Haley had given Lily her update, she remained quiet for another half an hour or so, just holding Nathan's hand in hers, getting lost in the peace and the quiet.

Nathan was beginning to get frustrated with himself again, the blame and the guilt bubbling up quickly inside of his body. He seemed to be so up and down with his emotions today and it was really annoying him. Before he completely lost it again, he hastily got up from the ground and walked back towards his car, just wanting to get the hell out of here.

Haley watched as Nathan marched back towards his car and she sighed. "He'll get better, Lily. I promise. He's starting to make some progress at least." She said as she got herself up from the floor, patted the gravestone with her hand, smiled fondly and then walked after Nathan, knowing that he needed her.

~*~

Haley lay in her bed with the covers snugly wrapped around her body, and while after the long journey she'd had and all the emotions of the day finally caught up with her, she should be lulling herself into a deep sleep, instead she found that she was frowning into the darkness of her room, listening to the sounds of Nathan causing utter chaos in his bedroom. It sounded like he was rearranging his entire room; the noise of furniture being shoved around was then disbursed with the sound of items being thrown around his room, the thud of heavy items hitting furniture and walls echoing through to her own bedroom. She winced as she heard something smash and pulled her covers tighter around her trembling body, feeling utterly helpless. He'd asked her to leave him alone for a while, and she desperately wanted to honour that promise she'd made him. But the want to go and comfort him was so strong, she practically had to force herself to the bed in an effort to prevent herself from running into his room.

Nathan's hands were shaking as he grabbed a pile of books from his bookshelf and threw them across his room. He continued to shove all the items from his bookshelf to various spots in his room and it was only when his hands had nothing else to grab that he quickly glanced over his shoulder at the destruction which he had caused. He was glad of the chaos and the mess, it felt more real to him that the order that was the façade he put on for everybody, this obliteration was a far more honest and representative reflection of his life. However now that he had nothing to occupy his mind with, his brain was suddenly hit with images of the day he'd just had and the horrible images of the past. He swiftly turned his head back, grabbed onto the now empty bookshelf and gripped his hands around it tightly, wanting to be free of all of this. He shook it furiously as the desire to rip the entire structure to shreds strongly coursed through his veins but he managed to rein in his anger and instead cried out before suddenly stopping. The bookshelf continued to rock back and forth once his hands left the piece of furniture and he rolled his body around, leaning with his back against the wall as his eyes blurrily travelled around his room, which now looked like a bomb had hit it.

Haley could hear his cry of frustration so clearly it was like Nathan was laying right next to her. She felt the tears pool in her eyes and she squeezed her eyes shut, trying to get a hold of her own emotions. She knew that he needed to let all of this out, and part of her was glad that he was expressing his emotions, but she was also scared for him. He'd been like this immediately after Lily's death but after a week or two he'd put up this wall around himself, protecting himself from feeling anything, and it was only now, five years later that he was finally letting his defences down. She just wanted him to miraculously be okay, despite knowing that would be entirely impossible.

Every time Nathan closed his eyes, the images which seemed to be swarming his brain came back a thousand times stronger, so he resolved to keep his eyes open. He banged his head against the wall behind him several times, as if wishing that he could knock all the emotion right out of his body. He wanted to go back to being able to feel nothing. He wanted that emptiness back because it was far less painful that the flood of emotions that were currently rushing through his body. His brain felt like it had this thick fog inside of it, and he couldn't seem to find any light which was strong enough to burn through it. He felt trapped in visions of his relationship with his little sister, her innocence and his protectiveness which had been completely wasted because he couldn't help her at the time when she'd most needed him to shield her. He brought his hands up as he rubbed his face and then sunk down to the floor, sobbing uncontrollably over all that he'd lost, feeling entirely desolate as he sat on his bedroom floor.

All of a sudden, the noise and commotion coming from Nathan's room stopped. Haley wasn't sure what was happening and she strained her ears for any further sound but she could hear nothing. Her mind was completely overwhelmed with worry for her best friend and she tossed and turned in bed, debating with herself over whether she should go to him or not. She bit down on her lip and was surprised when she could taste the saltiness of tears on her lips. She wiped her hands over her cheeks and felt the wetness spread over her skin, not even realising that her tears had fallen from her eyes.

Nathan didn't have a clue as to how much time had passed; he wasn't sure how long he'd been sitting on the floor sobbing into his knees. He just knew that it felt like he'd been sitting there for hours, even though that surely wasn't possible. Taking some calming deep breaths, he lifted himself up off the floor and staggered over to the door, turning out the light before moving to the bed, stripping himself of his clothes, leaving himself clad in only his boxers before crawling underneath the covers. He rolled himself into a ball and stared into the darkness of his room, feeling incredibly alone. He felt like he was drowning in sorrow and guilt and pain and he was desperately clinging onto the covers of his bed, but his grip didn't seem to be strong enough and so he sunk underneath, closing his eyes and giving in to the memories which consumed his brain. Seeing Lily's grave for the first time since the funeral nearly five years ago seemed to have cemented the loss of his little sister in his mind, and he didn't know how to deal with it, he just kept on slipping further and further beneath the surface, the darkness engulfing him almost entirely.

Haley continued to debate with herself about what she should do about Nathan and eventually she decided that her level of worry for him was far too high for her to be able to rest until she'd at least seen if he was okay. She hoped to find him sleeping, she hoped that he'd managed to vent some of his frustrations out a little and was able to at least rest for the night. She felt incredibly nervous as she moved along the hallway towards Nathan's bedroom, unsure of what she'd find when she reached his room. She tiptoed along until she was outside his door, not wanting to disturb him if he was asleep and then quietly opened up his door. She gasped quietly as her eyes adjusted to the darkness of his room, seeing the feint outlines of absolute carnage. He had literally obliterated his room entirely, there were books, trophies, folders and CD's all over the floor, it literally looked like a bomb had hit it. However, her eyes didn't linger on the floor for very long because they sought Nathan out. And when her eyes fell on his form, crumpled in the bed, her heart literally broke for him, for he looked so utterly shattered. She could tell from the irregular movement of his chest that he either wasn't sleeping, or was but not very calmly, and before she knew what was happening, her feet were moving towards his bed. It was like he was a magnet and she couldn't control the force of him. Her body craved to be near him, to help soothe him, to show him affection and prove to him that he didn't need to feel the way that he did over Lily, that he didn't need to blame himself.

Nathan was vaguely aware of the bed shifting but he was so consumed with his thoughts and memories that he thought nothing of it. He couldn't see anything, or feel anything at the moment because he felt so tormented with grief and guilt, it was overriding absolutely everything. His mind was replaying the moment the truck barrelled into the side of his car on a loop, and he could hear the sound of the crash, and feel the thud of his head on the window as his car shifted from the impact of the truck and collided with another car on the other side of the road. The brief second of silence which followed before the screaming and the shouting ensued seemed to last an eternity, and each time his mind replayed this moment, he begged and pleaded that Lily would make some sort of noise, but just as he remembered, there was nothing but ear splitting silence coming from her, for she was already gone.

Haley slipped herself into the bed behind Nathan and could feel him shaking, as if he was trapped inside his body and just wanted an escape. She didn't know what to do, whether she should touch him or just lie beside him and hope that her being in the vicinity of him was helping him somewhat. She felt so helpless, and so useless at the moment, for she didn't have a clue what he needed from her. She didn't know what she should offer of herself to make this all better for him. She just knew that she would do whatever he needed to make sure that he was okay, for seeing him like this was not nice. It was depressing and painful. But she knew he needed to work these emotions out of his system and she knew that she'd be there for him, for as long as it took for him to deal with this tragedy.

The darkness and the memories were beginning to make Nathan feel dizzy now. He felt like he had no control over the direction his thoughts were going in, for they were moving so quickly between different times in Lily's life, allowing him to remember more than he would have liked in that moment. He was slightly aware of the fact that his entire body was shaking and he was fighting with himself for he really didn't want to do this, not now, not after the day he'd had. He needed something to help centre him; he needed something to help stop all of this. He was struggling for breath and it was only when he felt an arm, which he knew instinctively belonged to Haley, wrap around his body that he managed to swim back up to the surface and slowly pull himself out of his dark thoughts.

Haley clenched her eyes shut as she wrapped her arm around Nathan's body and pulled her chest up against Nathan's back, cuddling him to her. She breathed a huge sigh of relief as the shaking of his body abated a little bit, feeling incredibly pleased that she was helping him somewhat. With her hand placed above his rapidly beating heart, she began to trace small circles over his skin. "It's okay, Nathan, I'm here." She whispered, hoping that her touch, along with the sound of her voice would help him further as she leaned her head against his back.

Nathan could feel the weight being lifted off his body now that he knew Haley was here, he could actually feel her hand tracing circles on his chest, helping to soothe and calm his rapidly beating heart. He heard her whisper to him and then her head was resting against his back, cooling his heated body down. He started to feel the haze inside of his head begin to clear, allowing his eyes to adjust and focus on the dark shapes in his room, illuminated by the moonlight shining through the window. He allowed her to caress and hold him for a moment because it was helping him calm down significantly, though the feeling of him needing to hide from her was fairly strong. And then once his brain had cleared he was hit with this intense need to be close to her. The overwhelming emotion he felt towards Haley, the thankfulness, the appreciation, the pure longing to touch her, to be close to her crawled through his veins slowly, tingling each and every centimetre of his body. He was slightly confused as to why this urge suddenly overcame him, but it was like something was telling him that being close to her, being connected to her in that special way would help him significantly, and he knew he needed to face her, he shouldn't hide from her. So acting purely on the instinct which had flowed through his body, he slowly began to turn himself around so that he could face Haley.

Haley shifted herself away from Nathan slightly and allowed him the room to move his body around. She was grateful of the fact that he was turning around and allowing her to see him, instead of shielding himself from her. She smiled softly at him once he faced her, her heart rate picking up in speed as her eyes ran over his face, seeing that he had been crying, which made her feel horrible and she wished that she could carry the burden of some of his pain, because she would in a heartbeat. She moved her hand tentatively to his cheek and wiped away the remaining tracks of his tears, before moving her hand down to his jaw and then his shoulder, where she stopped her hand from moving any further. She continued to stare into Nathan's eyes, confused by the myriad of emotions she could see swarming underneath them.

Nathan's breathing rate had increased exponentially. He was so very confused because he couldn't grasp or understand where this need for Haley was coming from; he just knew that he should act on it. So without thinking twice about it, without questioning his motives or why he was about to do what he was, he wrapped his arm around Haley's back and pulled her close to his body, his leg hooking over both of hers before he rolled her over onto her back, so that he was hovering above her. He propped himself up, leaning his elbows beside her body and he could see the bewilderment in her eyes as she lay underneath him, and he knew that he needed to explain, he couldn't just take from her without doing so, he just had no idea how to verbalize what he was feeling. "Hales… I just… I…" He stuttered, and then closed his eyes, trying to form some word of explanation in his mind. "I just… I need… God… I…"

Haley could tell that Nathan was struggling to articulate what it was he wanted to say to her. She wasn't sure if that was because of the struggle of the day he'd had or whether it was him trying to reconcile the need he felt to be close to someone, but either way she didn't honestly care. Her intuition told her what he wanted, what it was he was trying to ask of her and she could see him trying to fight the guilt he felt at doing so, even though it wasn't needed. At a time like this everyone deserved the right to long for someone, to want someone to care for them, to show them affection. So she pressed her index finger to his lips, stopping his incoherent mumbling. "Shushhh." She whispered and waited for him to still his fidgeting above her. Once he had calmed down and had met her gaze tentatively, she smiled slightly at him, her finger trailing across his lips to the corner of his mouth and she felt the warmth of his breath leave his mouth as he released the air he'd been holding in his lungs. She then moved her finger from his mouth, tracing a path across his cheekbone until she got to his hair, where she began to rake her nails over his scalp. She watched as his eyes closed briefly, and in that instant she knew that if this was what he wanted from her, she'd more than happily give it to him. The rules of the agreement, the fact that it was a weekday, and the fact that they would be doing this without ticking anything off either of their lists didn't even enter her mind.

Nathan's eyes opened and Haley was momentarily startled by what she saw because it was something she'd never seen in him before. It wasn't desire, like she'd seen countless times before during their arrangement and there was no fire in his eyes, no hunger. It was simply need, nothing else, and it was so powerful she felt her breath catch in her throat. "It's okay." She muttered quietly as she continued to stare into his intense eyes, her hand still moving through his hair.

She lifted her head up off the pillows and rested her forehead against his, both of her hands twisting to the back of his neck as she used him for leverage. She was suddenly so close to him that their breaths were mingling together, her lips inches away from his own. "You can take it… I want you to." She whispered and then slowly lowered her head back to the pillow, bringing Nathan down from his levitated position too so that his body was now resting on top of her own. She ran her hands down his back, relishing in the feel of his weight on her body, rendering her immobile underneath him. She blinked up at him, silently communicating her offering, wanting him to take what he needed from her. She prayed that he wouldn't reject her because this was the one thing she could do for him and she desperately wanted to do all she could to help him through all of this.

She knew that she couldn't erase the guilt and the pain he'd been feeling over the past five years. Just as she knew she couldn't magically go back in time and stop that accident from happening. She didn't know if things were going to get any easier for him now that he'd been to see Lily's grave either, and she knew that he was really only just beginning his own grieving process, whereas Lucas, herself and everyone else were miles down the long road he had yet to travel. She knew it was going to be painful and difficult and she also knew that she would be there for him through all of it, just as she'd been there when he hadn't wanted to deal with it. But she wanted to do more than just be there for him, and tonight, this was one of the ways that she could simply do more, by being as close and connected to him as she could possibly be.

She continued to stare into his blue eyes, hoping that she was giving him an encouraging look, seeing a myriad of emotions being emitted by him. And when his head finally, after what felt like an eternity, lowered to her body, she closed her eyes, moved her arms to the bed beside her body and dug her head into the pillows she was resting on. She felt his mouth move tentatively across her neck, his lips soft and light on her skin and she arched her back up to him, offering herself to him, and surrendered completely to him.

**AN – Okay guys… I know I cut it off at the end there but it felt like the right place to end this chapter… **

**However, if you want to read more I do have a little extra bit (an outtake or extended scene or whatever you want to call it – approximately 1,500 words) which follows on from where I left off here. It also gives you a brief hint at something else which may be troubling Nathan too… so if you want to read the extended scene just let me know in a review and I'll get it to you ASAP. **

**Also, the second teaser pic from my blog will make more sense if you read the deleted scene too. If you haven't got an account but still want it, remember to leave some gaps in your email address otherwise I won't be able to send it to you :o)**

**And as always, I'd love to know your thoughts on the chapter.**

**A preview of the next chapter will be available to those of you who want it, so just let me know in a review if you do and I'll get it out to you as soon as it's written.**


	12. Chapter 12

**AN – I want to thank all of you who took the time to review the last chapter, I was so nervous about posting it – ask Rebecca! **

**If you asked for the extended scene and didn't get it, then let me know and I'll get it out to you ASAP. It might be because I couldn't see your email address, or that you have disabled PMs on fanfiction so I couldn't actually get it to you. **

**As per usual I want to say a few words to those of you without accounts who reviewed… **Lauralouho – **Think you got the scene, I hope you liked it and that you enjoy the update! **Keeta – **So pleased you enjoyed the chapter and the whole emotions side of my writing – hope you enjoy the update! **Tee – **Your email address didn't show up but I'm so glad you are enjoying my writing and I hope you like the new chapter! **Katie – **I'm so glad you're enjoying the story so far and Nathan and Haley's relationship, hope you enjoy the new chapter! **naleylover – **So pleased you like the story so far and I hope you enjoy the update! **Caitlin – **Aw thank you so much for your lovely words and I'm so glad you're enjoying my writing – I hope you like this new chapter too! **Jenn – **So pleased you enjoyed the chapter and that you like the story! I hope you like this update! **Ann – **Glad you are pleased Nathan is starting to work through his grief and don't worry – I think if I cut the chapters in half they'd feel incomplete to me so I won't be doing it! Hope you enjoy the new chapter! **LiaComfort – **So pleased you enjoyed the emotion of the chapter and I hope you enjoy this update! **AmberEmily – **I'm so pleased you're enjoying reading this story so much, and thanks for your lovely words – I hope you enjoy the chapter! **crackerjack – **So pleased you're enjoying the story – your email address didn't show up so I couldn't get the scene to you… but I hope you enjoy this chapter. **Irene – **I'm so pleased you enjoyed the emotion of the last chapter and I hope you enjoy the update! **Kay – **I'm so pleased you're enjoying their relationship. I hope you enjoy the new chapter! **Anonymous – **I'm so pleased you liked reading Nathan's emotions in the chapter – the last part of your email address didn't show up so I couldn't send you the scene – but I hope you enjoy the update! **Naley05186 – **So pleased you're enjoying my writing and I hope you like the new chapter! **Carolann71 – **So pleased you liked the last chapter and I hope you enjoy the new update! **Victoria – **Hope you enjoyed the outtake and that you like this chapter! **D-2-U – **So glad you liked the chapter and I hope you enjoy the update! **Jill Johnson – **So pleased you're enjoying the story – your email address didn't show in the review so I couldn't send it to you but I hope you like the new chapter! **Sylvie238 – **So pleased you're enjoying the story and the little details – hope you enjoy this update too! **Alexandra P – **So pleased you liked the chapter and finding out about Lily!** **You're email address didn't show up in the review but I hope you enjoy the update! **Lou – **Glad you liked the chapter and finding out about Lily, as well as the list ticking! Hope you enjoy the update! **Sally – **Wow, so nice to hear you think this is one of the best stories you've read – hope you enjoy the new chapter! **Anita – **So pleased you're enjoying the story – I'm going to keep fairly quiet about what's coming up… but I hope you enjoy the update! **Irrelevantbubbles – **Hee hee – I'm glad this story is your guilty pleasure – hope you enjoy the update! **Rachael – **So pleased you enjoyed the update and the scenes between Nathan and Haley – hope you enjoy the new chapter! **Sarah – **So glad to hear you're enjoying the story but your email address didn't show up in your review – however, I hope you enjoy the update! **Beth – **Glad you enjoyed the last update and I hope you like this new chapter too! **Rinuccia – **So glad you liked the chapter and I hope you enjoy this update! **Heidi – **Glad you're enjoying the story - your email address didn't show up so I couldn't send you the scene – but I hope you enjoy the new chapter! **Starr – **So pleased you're enjoying the story and I hope you like the new update! **SMS – **I'm glad you're enjoying the story so far and their developing relationship. Your email address didn't show up but I hope you enjoy the update! **Jackie – **Hope you got the outtake okay? And I hope you enjoy the new chapter! **23naleylovin23 – **So pleased you're enjoying the story and how much they've grown – hope you enjoy the new update! **Lela – **So glad you're enjoyed the chapter and I hope you like the update! **Mazzy – **Aw I know poor Nathan! Your email address didn't work – it kept on returning the message to me which is why you won't have received anything from me – but I hope you enjoy the chapter! **Natalie – **I'm so pleased you're enjoying the story and I hope you like the update! **Judy – **I'm so pleased you're continuing to enjoy the story and I hope you enjoy reading the new chapter! **Nicole – **Aw I'm glad this is your favourite story and I hope you like the new update! **Katie – **I'm so pleased you're enjoying the story so far – I really hope you enjoy the new chapter!** Sam – **So glad you're enjoying the story and I hope you like the update! **The_Hub – **I'm so pleased you're enjoying the story and I hope you enjoy reading the new chapter!**

**And I also have to say a big thanks to Rebecca and Kristen, who as per usual have done an amazing job reading through this chapter before I posted it! Thank you girls!**

**Hope you all enjoy the update!**

**Chapter Twelve**

Nathan was procrastinating; he should have left the office hours ago but he wanted to be sure that Haley would be in bed by the time he got home, just so he wouldn't have to face her.

It was slightly ridiculous, he knew that. But after what happened yesterday, he felt incredibly embarrassed. It wasn't because he'd completely broken down in front of her. No, he knew that Haley would just be pleased that he'd finally opened up to her and allowed her to comfort him, just as he would have been had the situation been reversed. It wasn't because he'd cried in front of her or allowed her a glimpse inside of his dark soul, which he tried so very hard to keep hidden from her purity, either.

And Lily hadn't really consumed his thoughts today like he thought she would. Sure, he thought about her, but not in the same way as he had thought about her before yesterday. He didn't ponder over or analyse those thoughts any further though, he didn't really have the room inside of his head to, because the only reason as to why he had been so distracted was because of the disaster that had been last night. It was because he'd had sex with Haley completely unannounced.

God, he didn't know what the hell he had been thinking last night. In fact, he was pretty damn sure that he hadn't been thinking full stop. He continued to pace around his office, the four walls feeling increasingly constrictive after he'd been horded away inside the room all day, and he realised that he felt rather like a caged animal at the moment. Running his hand through his hair, he tugged on it sharply, as if he were trying to pull all the hairs on his head out in pure frustration with himself.

He reran the events of last night through his head for what had to be the millionth time, the actual act itself returning to him rather hazily, like he had been completely absorbed in her, or had an out of body experience, and hadn't bothered to remember the detail of it all. He didn't know why this was, because he couldn't doubt the fact that it had felt good, amazing even, and natural. It had somehow, strangely, felt right, and part of him desperately wanted to remember far more than he could conjure up at the moment. Maybe it would come to him later. He most certainly hoped so, anyway.

And then he started to berate himself again. Why was he feeling like this? He couldn't pretend that last night had been just like the other times because it clearly hadn't been. It had been different. And as much as he wanted to convince himself otherwise, he knew his efforts of doing so would be completely futile.

But he just didn't know how Haley was going to react to it. Would she be annoyed at him for initiating last night's events? Would she want to call the rest of the agreement off because of it? She had to want to do that, right? She'd made such a big deal out of ensuring that no rules should be broken, and he'd gone and completely obliterated that damn piece of paper he'd signed. The feeling of dread coursed through his veins and he wondered what the hell he'd do with himself if she, as expected, called the arrangement off. He was slightly stunned by the effect this thought had on him, the fear and panic it evoked inside of himself. He rubbed his hands over his face and sighed deeply as he stared at the clock, watching the seconds tick by.

The only noise coming from the building was the distant hum of a vacuum cleaner His computer had been switched off half an hour ago and he even had his jacket on, but he'd stopped himself from walking out of that door because it wasn't late enough then, it had only been half ten. But now it was eleven o'clock, and he told himself that he was being stupid, and that it was late enough. Haley had to be in bed by now.

And if she wasn't?

Well, he guessed it was time for him to face the music.

Just before he walked out of his office, he turned out his light and shut the door behind him. He dawdled over to the elevators, feeling his heart already begin to race in his chest. He wanted to scold himself for acting like such a scared little boy but he couldn't even bring himself to do that because he was panicking so much. The elevator chimed and the doors swished open, and Nathan stood there running his hand through his hair as he pondered whether he even wanted to go home tonight at all. He shook his head at himself when, in his hazy vision, he saw the metal doors begin to close, and he placed his arm in between them, forcing the doors to open once again. He finally walked inside and pushed the button for the ground floor, the elevator moving much too quickly for his liking. He really wanted to draw this journey home out for as long as he possibly could.

Haley sighed as she flicked through the channels, wondering how she couldn't find anything decent to watch. It was slightly ridiculous given just how many channels their television package had, but she'd grown tired of watching shows where people or houses underwent huge makeovers. And that was all that seemed to be on. She glanced up at the clock and frowned when she saw that it was already nearing eleven o'clock, and she wondered for the thousandth time that night where the hell Nathan was and why he hadn't come home yet.

She'd woken up this morning alone and her hazy mind was quick to recall the events of the previous night. She had closed her eyes almost as quickly as she had opened them and shifted her legs slightly, feeling the slight warmth from where Nathan's body had been lying next to her. She had moved her head further along the pillows and caught a whiff of Nathan's scent, and she completely relaxed again, smiling softly to herself as she remembered just how close to him she'd felt last night. However, the smile soon turned into a bit of a frown, as she considered the context in which last night had happened. She was still incredibly worried about him and how he was dealing with the Lily situation, and she knew he had a long road ahead of him before he'd dealt with it properly. She resolved then and there, as she lay in her bed, to just make sure that she was there for him while he navigated his way through his grief.

And now that it was so late in the evening, she couldn't help but wonder where he was or what he was doing. She reached for her mobile and her finger hovered over the number which she'd programmed to be his speed dial, but she sighed heavily to herself and threw her phone onto the sofa next to her. She knew that she needed to give him some space. She knew that she couldn't mother him through this, he had to deal with this at his own pace, and if he wasn't ready to come home yet, she'd have to just accept that.

However, she couldn't help the small voice in the back of her head which questioned whether Nathan was actually avoiding coming home because of her. Because of what happened last night. However, as the thought continued to creep into her mind, she was aware of this horrible feeling coursing its way through her veins, and so she quickly banished that thought completely. She couldn't allow herself to think that he thought of last night as a mistake, she didn't want to believe that he actually felt that way, because to her, last night had been simply amazing.

Haley had never felt as close to someone, she'd never felt that raw, undeniable connection to anyone before and she was slightly startled by just how powerful it had felt. She never wanted to forget it, and knowing that she'd shared that moment with her best friend somehow made it feel so much better. It had been so special and so wonderful, so she couldn't bear the thought that Nathan viewed last night as a mistake. It would probably crush her completely.

However, she also wasn't tired, and given that nothing was holding her interest on the television, she decided to try to find something else to occupy her mind with. She knew that she wouldn't fall asleep until she knew that Nathan was safely home, and so her eyes flicked around the room, falling on the shelves full of DVDs. She picked herself up off the sofa and walked over to them, scanning the titles as she tried to muster some interest in at least one of them.

After looking over the titles for at least five minutes, she sighed to herself and bit down on her lip. What the hell was wrong with her tonight? She knew the answer to that question, she was simply worried, but she needed something to take her mind off it all. Her eyes once again searched the room and eventually they fell on Nathan's Xbox. She eyed it cautiously for a good few seconds, wondering what he would have to say about her using it, before she decided what the hell; it wasn't like he was here to tell her not to use it anyway. She turned it on and picked up one of the controllers, before sitting herself down on the sofa, ready to absorb herself completely in the world of car racing.

Nathan walked out of the elevator and trudged along the hallway until he got to the door to the apartment. By now it was already half past eleven and he was absolutely sure that Haley would be in bed, yet he still wasn't rushing to get home. He wasn't sure why and he felt this confusing mix of emotions swirl in the pit of his stomach, making him feel a little bit uncomfortable and full of dread. He sighed as he placed the key in the door and opened it, frowning when he heard a commotion of noise coming from the living room, and the dread that he'd been feeling previously increased tenfold. What the hell was she still doing up? He shook his head at his cowardly behaviour, fighting the urge to leave before he'd even set foot inside and took a deep breath. If Haley was still up and wanted to talk, then despite desperately not wanting to do that himself, he would do it for her. After all that had happened yesterday it would be the least he could do.

Haley saw some movement out of the corner of her eye by the door to the lounge and flicked her eyes over to Nathan for the briefest of seconds, feeling the relief that he was home wash over her. "Hey." She said, acknowledging his presence, before returning all her concentration to the game. She thought she was doing rather well, and now that she knew that he was safe and she didn't have to worry, she threw all of her attention onto the car she was racing with, wanting to show him that she could play just as well as he could.

Nathan sat himself down on the sofa, his eyes looking intently at Haley who was so absorbed in the game he wasn't even sure if she was aware of his eyes being on her. He watched as the corner of her tongue poked out between her lips, her sparkling brown eyes focussed completely on the television screen with a look of utter concentration etched on her face, and he smiled softly to himself. He watched as she groaned in frustration and he moved his head towards the screen, watching as she over steered a corner. He rolled his eyes as he watched her skid all over the place. "Give it here, gorgeous." He said as he held out his hand, continuing to watch the screen, waiting to feel the weight of the controller in his palm.

Haley raised her eyebrow at the screen and shifted her eyes for a second to Nathan, who was sitting next to her with his hand held out, waiting for her to give him the controller. She turned her head back towards the screen and licked her lips. "No way, this is my race, Nathan." She returned as she desperately tried to correct herself, grinning widely when she was able to turn the car the right way around and continue with her race. "See, I can do it."

Nathan had to chuckle at her. He watched as the other cars raced past her, seeing that she was in completely the wrong gear. "You need to be in fifth gear, Hales, not third!" He instructed and then rolled his eyes when, instead of going up a gear, she went down, causing the car to slow down even more.

"Shut up, Nathan. I'm playing, not you!" Haley gritted through her teeth as she wondered why her car wasn't moving and was making this horrific noise. She pressed a load of buttons and eventually the car started moving more smoothly as she grinned to herself and repeated her earlier words. "See, I can do it."

Nathan raised an eyebrow as he watched her race. Well he wasn't entirely sure you could call it racing. "Yeah, gorgeous, you're really good. You see those cars passing you?" He said, really enthusiastically, smirking to himself before he'd even got to the heart of his sarcasm.

"Yeah?" Haley said as she moved her whole body, desperately trying to get this corner right, grinning widely as she straightened herself out, pleased that she hadn't made a complete disaster of that corner at least.

Nathan laughed as he watched Haley's entire body move with her steering of the car, her tongue still poking out through her lips. "They're lapping you, gorgeous, and you don't need to move your whole body to steer, you just need to move your thumb." He said and then laughed at the incredulous look she quickly threw his way before returning her concentration to the game.

"No they're not and I do not move my whole body when I turn." Haley returned, frowning at his statement. They couldn't be lapping her, she'd been playing really well and as for the moving her whole body thing, he was talking crap, she sat perfectly still when she played.

"Gorgeous, they are, in fact, the game is going to end in a second…" Nathan started to warn her but he was interrupted by a petulant Haley.

"Why is the game going to end? I've still got another lap to go after this one." Haley returned smugly, knowing that she was right. She was only on lap two of three, and Nathan was just being stupid. He really didn't know much about this game considering the long periods of time he spent playing it.

"Yeah, but everyone else is on their final lap, and you're too slow. So the race is going to end." Nathan responded and then grinned widely as he looked at the map, seeing that the final car bar Haley's was about to cross the finish line. He laughed as the race stopped, just as he said it would. "See?"

Haley scowled as the race just suddenly stopped, hating the fact that Nathan had been right. "Why won't it let me finish?" She asked, sighing to herself as she placed the controller on the sofa between herself and Nathan.

"Because if it did, we'd be waiting for a whole year, gorgeous." Nathan teased as he picked up the controller and pressed a couple of buttons, getting the game ready so that he could have a go too. "You ready to see how it should be done?"

Haley rolled her eyes at Nathan as she turned to look at him, seeing his signature smirk present on his face as he looked back at her. "I hope you lose." She said, turning her head back to the screen, hoping that he wouldn't win so that the annoying smirk of his would be wiped off his face.

"That's not very nice of you, Hales." Nathan said, feigning hurt as he continued to smirk to himself, selecting the same race Haley had just been playing.

Haley just sighed as she watched the screen, willing with all her might for Nathan to have a really bad race. She watched as he began and shifted her focus away from the screen, and instead focussed on Nathan's face. He looked relaxed as he played, however, she knew from just a glance at him that there was a whole host of turmoil bubbling away underneath his skin. She could tell from the look in his eyes and his whole demeanour, despite the fact that he was trying to be playful with her. However, she also knew that he didn't want her to bring it up, she could just feel it, and she could see the way he had tensed up slightly, and so she closed her eyes for a brief second, and then turned them back to the screen, seeing that he was clearly in the lead. He took the corner she'd had constant trouble with like a professional driver and she rolled her eyes as she poked him in the side with her elbow. "Show off." She muttered and then grinned as she continued to watch him race extremely well, though she hated to admit it.

Nathan smiled as he cast his eyes off the race and moved them over to Haley for just a second, before returning them to the screen. He had felt her eyes on him a moment ago and had tensed up completely, willing her not to bring up the whole Lily thing right now and somehow, thankfully, she hadn't. It was like she could hear his thoughts or something. And as he continued to race, he was distracted by thoughts of just how amazing she really was, how she always knew when to say something and when to keep quiet. He was also amazed at how easily they had slipped right back into their roles as best friends, instead of worrying over what happened last night. He realised that he had been getting himself worked up over nothing, and he should just trust that everything would be okay between them, just as Haley obviously seemed to. He was extremely grateful for that, he felt tremendously thankful that she was his best friend; he couldn't imagine anyone else ever taking that spot away from her.

~*~

On Friday, Haley decided that she'd finished work early enough, so she could put in an hour or so at the gym before meeting up with the gang at the bar. She'd already changed into her workout clothes which she kept at the office she worked at and was currently running away on one of the treadmills, listening to her iPod belt out a series of what she considered to be excellent workout tunes. She was pretty sure most people would entirely disagree with her but she didn't really care, it was what kept her happy.

Once she'd completed her warm-up, she upped the pace of the machine and began to work her legs a little harder, beginning to set herself a modest pace. She easily fell into the now familiar rhythm of running and mouthed the words to 'Ain't No Mountain High Enough' which was blaring in her ears.

She was distracted from her mouthing along to the words by someone tapping her on the shoulder. She scowled as she turned around to face whoever it was because it was clear that she was in the middle of something and shouldn't be disturbed, but when she found Ryan standing to the side of the machine her expression softened and she slowed down the pace of the belt until she was just walking quickly as opposed to running. She noticed that he was wearing his work clothes and she smiled as she raised her eyes back up to his face. "I didn't know you were working this evening." She said as she continued to walk on the treadmill, removing one of her earphones from her ear so that she could monitor the volume of her voice and also hear what he said back to her.

Ryan smiled back at Haley and waited until she had removed one of her earphones before he responded. "Yeah, unfortunately I got the Friday shift this week, but it means I'm off next weekend which is good." Ryan said as he leaned his back against the railing of the machine next to the one Haley was currently on, moving his feet closer to her treadmill so that his weight was adjusted appropriately.

"That is good." Haley responded while she continued to walk at a rather quick pace on the machine. She checked how far she had walked and ran before she moved her focus back over to Ryan who was now leaning casually against one of the other treadmills, his arms crossed over his chest as he watched her move. "You been busy today then?"

Ryan couldn't help his wandering eyes from moving over Haley's form as she walked on the machine. She was wearing a pair of tight short and a cropped top, and he could already see the slight changes to her body from all the working out she'd been doing. She was definitely a lot more toned than she had been the first time he had seen her. He realised as he moved his eyes up her body and rested them on her face, that she had asked him a question and he had to think really hard to try to remember what she had asked him. "Erm, yeah, I had a load of inductions to do today as well as a couple of personal training sessions." He responded, and then smiled at Haley, really hoping that she hadn't noticed him checking her out. Before she could say anything more, he decided to continue talking. "So where have you been, I waited for you the other day and you weren't at home?"

Haley suddenly remembered that in her haste to get to Nathan when he'd gone to see Lily that she had completely forgotten that she was supposed to be going running with Ryan. "Oh my gosh, Ryan, I am so sorry, I completely forgot about it." She apologised, pressing the stop button on the machine and adjusting the speed of her legs as she felt the belt come to a halt.

Ryan felt slightly put out that she had simply forgotten about their training session but she seemed genuinely sorry for it and he was sure that she had a very good reason to have skipped it, so he forced himself not to feel too depressed over it. "Don't worry about it, I was just worried about you, that's all." He said and then smiled over at Haley.

Haley smiled back at him, feeling really bad that she had just left him hanging without so much as a word from her. "Gosh Ryan, it was just such a crazy day and Nathan had disappeared and there was just so much going on… I…" She started and then stopped herself from saying any more, unsure of whether she should say what she was really doing or whether she should keep that to herself. She eventually, after some debate with herself decided that Lily's anniversary was something private and so she was glad that she stopped herself from just rambling on about it.

Ryan could tell that Haley had just been on the cusp of actually telling him exactly what had happened to cause her to miss her training session with him. He wondered exactly why Nathan just left her but he couldn't seem to come up with anything plausible and so he shrugged it off. But he couldn't help but wish that Haley would feel comfortable enough with him to talk to him, because it was clear in the way that she pondered so heavily over her words that something was bothering her. He desperately wasted her to open up to him. However, he also knew that he certainly wasn't in a place to push her. So instead of pressing for her to actually tell him the truth, he sighed heavily in resignation. "It's okay, Haley, you don't have to tell me." He said, smiling softly at her so that she knew he meant it, even if under the surface he was pleading with her to tell him.

Haley smiled back at Ryan, grateful that yet again he wasn't pushing her into talking to him. She wondered where he got all his patience from, it really was rather astonishing. "Thank you, Ryan. And I'm really sorry about missing training." She said purposefully, because she was sorry she had missed it.

"It's no problem, don't worry about it." Ryan responded and then pushed himself up from the treadmill he was leaning against. He wanted to find something else to talk to her about but he could already feel his boss's eyes burning holes in his skin and he knew he needed to get back to work. However he really didn't want to leave her. Even though it had only been a few days since he'd last seen her, it still felt like it had been an age, and besides, she hadn't mentioned anything about another training session together, so he wasn't sure if he would be seeing her anytime soon either. He was well aware that he could ask her, but he wanted her to initiate it, he didn't want to be pining after someone who clearly had no interest in him. "Well, I should probably get back to work."

"Sure, yeah, of course, you need to work." Haley said as she moved her eyes down to the belt of the treadmill, and then raised them so that she could start up the machine again and get back to her running. She had kind of missed their training sessions, and running without Ryan beside her somehow wasn't as fun. She upped the pace of the belt a little so she was running at a gentle jog and then turned her head back to Ryan. "So did you want to start training up again on Monday? In the park?" She asked, hoping that she could make amends for bailing on him this week.

"I thought you didn't like running in the park anymore?" Ryan asked with a smile on his face. He was so happy that she'd asked him to run with her he decided that it didn't matter if she wanted to run here, in the park, on the street or in another city. He honestly didn't care.

Haley could feel the blush beginning to form on her cheeks as she remembered the silly excuse she'd forgotten that she'd used when she'd been trying to avoid Ryan. She wondered why he had remembered it when it had been meant as a passing comment but then before she could analyse that thought any longer, she realised that Ryan was waiting for an answer from her. "I changed my mind." She said defiantly, hoping that he would accept her answer and just leave it. Of course, she should have known better…

"You changed your mind?" Ryan said with a smirk on his face. He shook his head as he leaned over on the railing of the machine Haley was currently jogging on, glad that they were getting back to their usual teasing banter. "You women are so difficult to keep up with!"

"Yes, I changed my mind, and before you start complaining about it, I'll have you know that changing your mind is a woman's prerogative." Haley returned, turning her head, and finding herself surprised to see Ryan so close to her as she raised her eyebrow up at him. She quickly moved her eyes away from his and concentrated on the display on the machine, upping the pace just a little bit to keep herself occupied.

Ryan chuckled as he reached over and upped the machine's speed even more. "No slacking, Haley." He teased and watched as she upped the pace which her legs were moving at.

Haley was completely outraged that he would say such a thing, in fact, he was the one who was making her slack, he was the one who had interrupted her running to talk to her so really it was his fault, not hers. "I'm not slacking you cheeky…" Haley retorted only she was interrupted from speaking any further by Ryan.

Ryan couldn't help the laughter which erupted in his chest. "Careful, Haley." He warned before she could call him whatever it was that she was going to finish that sentence off with. "I'll see you Monday at six thirty in the morning. I'll pick you up on the way to the park." He then winked at her and wandered off to the desk at the front of the gym, knowing that he was supposed to have started an induction three minutes ago and so was now late for it. Not that he really cared in the slightest.

After having run for two miles, Haley noticed someone step onto the treadmill beside her, which annoyed her slightly because the gym was pretty quiet and there were plenty of treadmills which weren't directly next to the one she was running on, what with it being a Friday night and all. She kept her eyes trained forward, not bothering to move them in the mirror she could see in front of her to whoever it was who had climbed onto the machine next to her because she really didn't want to acknowledge them. It was as she was trying not to look to her left, that she saw Ryan in the reflection looking right at her. She could see that he was in the middle of his induction but for some absurd reason all his concentration seemed to be trained on her. She blushed, feeling the heat residing in her cheeks and quickly looked down, closing her eyes for a second as she allowed the sound of Motown to fill her head.

She then felt someone begin to tap her arm, and she ignored it, wondering what the hell this person's problem was. She continued to run but then after five seconds she felt it again. Completely exasperated with them, she yanked her headphone out of her ear and turned her head at whoever it was, giving them her biggest and fiercest bitch glare. "What the hell is…" It was as she began ranting that her eyes moved over to the left and saw Brooke standing on an unmoving treadmill with her arms folded across her chest, eyebrow raised so high it was a wonder it was still on her forehead.

Brooke wondered what the hell had got Haley so annoyed. She'd been watching the whole exchange she'd had with Ryan with rapt interest, clearing seeing a definite opportunity now for her to strike with her matchmaking skills, and this time she wasn't taking no for an answer, no matter how loud Haley screamed that she wasn't interested. "Feeling a bit frustrated there, Haley?" She teased, her eyebrow still raised as high as she could possibly get it.

Haley turned herself back to the machine and slowed down the pace, really pissed off that she'd been interrupted for the second time. All she wanted to do was get on with her run so that she could get herself over to the bar, was that too much to ask? Once she'd settled into a power walk, she turned to look at Brooke, who was still standing on the unmoving treadmill. "No. Why would I be feeling frustrated?" She asked, having to grit her teeth a little because she was feeling a tad annoyed that Brooke had made her slow down.

"Oh, no reason…" Brooke said, eyeing Haley suspiciously as she watched her walk rather quickly on the treadmill. She then glanced over to where she'd last seen Ryan inducting yet another bimbo to the gym and saw that instead of his eyes being on the woman who he was supposed to be looking after, his eyes were completely trained on Haley. She returned her gaze to her friend, who seemed completely oblivious to Ryan's interest in her. She couldn't help the wide grin which spread across her face, after all, wasn't that what she was there for? "So was that Ryan I saw chatting to you earlier?"

"Um, yeah, it was." Haley answered, as she continued to walk on her treadmill, wondering where Brooke was going with this. She kind of had an idea but she wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt before she started getting really angry at her.

"What did he want?" Brooke asked as she leaned her body on the railing, casting her eyes over to Ryan once again, who had now moved onto another machine, but his eyes were still very much focussed on Haley. She had to smile to herself again; it was actually kind of sweet. And plus, she really did think that Ryan was perfect for her, much better than Chase had ever been for her. She knew that he'd treat her right too.

Haley rolled her eyes to herself and gave Brooke a stern glare as she turned her head slightly, before returning it to its previous position so she didn't have to stare at Brooke and entice more questioning out of her. "Nothing. And don't you dare start that crap again Brooke, okay? I'm not interested in Ryan like that."

Brooke straightened herself up and held her hands up in front of her body in mock surrender, though she still couldn't keep the grin off her face. She couldn't help but think Haley was being a little bit too defensive, and she was glad of that. Though she couldn't quite work out why she was being so protective about it. It wasn't like she'd flat out asked if she liked him or anything, she was merely expressing an interest in their conversation, that was all. "I'm not starting anything!" She defended herself.

"Yeah right." Haley muttered under her breath, though she made sure it was loud enough for Brooke to hear her. She then turned her head over to her and noted that she still hadn't started up the machine. "You going to use that thing or are you just planning on standing on it and annoying me?"

Brooke dropped her mouth open in mock outrage before she shook her head at Haley. She then turned herself around so that she was facing forwards and turned on the machine, moving her feet along with the belt. She couldn't be bothered with running and so she stopped upping the pace of it when she was walking fairly quickly. She then glanced over at Haley in the reflection of the mirror and saw that she had begun to run at a really fast pace. She creased her brow and continued to watch her run incredibly quickly. After twenty minutes, she was breathing heavily and feeling like her legs were going to collapse, but Haley was running on looking completely unaffected. Something was definitely up here. She slowed her machine right down and turned to look at Haley. "How the hell are you not tired?" She asked, panting for breath as she grabbed her towel and wiped the sweat from her forehead.

Haley wasn't about to stop her machine for the third time so she continued to run, glancing in the reflection of the mirror, seeing that she was a little red faced but it was nothing in comparison to what Brooke looked like. "Just not." She responded vaguely, not wanting to waste her energy talking when she could be putting it into her run. Obviously she'd been running for a good while now and had built up enough stamina to be able to run for a fair distance now, but she wasn't about to tell Brooke about it, not when she knew how bad she was at keeping secrets. Nathan would find out about her marathon training in no time if Brooke found out. And she still wasn't ready to have that discussion with him yet, especially with all the Lily stuff he'd been dealing with recently.

Brooke shrugged, clearly knowing that she was missing something but Haley was busy running and she didn't want to interrupt her, or annoy her anymore than she'd already managed to do by asking her about Ryan. "So how much longer are you going to be?" She asked, glancing up at the clock on the wall and seeing that it was nearly quarter past six. She certainly didn't want to be late because that would mean that she would have to buy the drinks, so she wanted to make sure she arrived at the bar with plenty of time to spare.

"I'll be five more minutes." Haley responded once she'd glanced up at the clock and then down at her machine. Considering how many times she'd been distracted, she was rather pleased with the distance she'd managed to run.

Brooke nodded her head and continued to walk on her treadmill at a snail's pace, adjusting her hair slightly so that it wasn't sticking to her forehead. Finding herself completely bored with her workout, she ran her eyes around the vast room, searching for Ryan, who she found standing by the front desk saying goodbye to the woman he had been with earlier on. She watched as the woman waved and walked out of the gym, and as soon as he was able to, Ryan's eyes once again focussed right back on Haley. She almost let out a wistful sigh, it was so clear to her that he really liked her. She glanced back at Haley for a brief moment and saw that she was too caught up in her ridiculous running to notice. She then turned her gaze back to Ryan expecting to find him fiddling around at the front desk, only she found that he was walking right back over towards where she and Haley were running. She practically squealed on the spot, the excitement rushing quickly through her veins.

Out of the corner of her eye Haley could see Brooke practically vibrating and she couldn't help but wonder what had caused her to become so excited. She surreptitiously moved her eyes over to Brooke and frowned because she couldn't see anything remotely interesting from her quick glance. So instead she concentrated on her running, eager to keep going for another minute or so before she started her cool down. However, her question as to what had caused Brooke to become so animated was quickly answered when she felt someone peering over her shoulder. She turned her head and found that Ryan was standing incredibly close to her again, looking at the display on the machine.

Brooke was so giddy so almost fell off the treadmill, despite the fact that it was moving incredibly slowly. She gripped onto the rails quickly to stop herself from falling, her eyes practically popping out of her sockets. Ryan was standing so close to Haley she was sure that his lips were touching her neck. Okay, that may be a slight exaggeration on her part, but she was sure that Haley could feel his breath on her skin, which was much closer than was socially acceptable for two people who had nothing going on with each other, right? She thought so anyway, and in her excitement, she almost forgot to move her legs again, nearly falling off the treadmill for the second time in as many minutes. She blindly began hitting the display, not wanting to tear her eyes away from Ryan and Haley for even a second, trying to locate the stop button. When the machine sped up, catching her off guard, she rapidly moved her eyes and located the stop button before she returned her gaze to the two people standing next to her.

Ryan was standing close enough to Haley without it being too uncomfortable, and he used the pretence of glancing over at the display so that he could see how far she'd run. He kept himself in the same position, watching as Haley pressed the cool down button and her pace slowed in time with the belt. "You could have squeezed another mile out of that, Haley." He teased, taking a step backward so that he wasn't in her personal space any longer, even though he really wanted to be.

Haley turned her head slowly to face Ryan as her mouth dropped open in complete incredulity. "Excuse me?" She asked, the tone of her voice clearly displaying her shock at his statement. She thought that she'd done pretty well, all things considered.

"Well, I mean, I've seen you run a lot further in that time." Ryan responded, the teasing glint still sparkling in his eyes.

"Yeah, well, I'm sure that the times when you've seen me run further I wasn't interrupted twice, right?" Haley responded, continuing to walk slowly on her treadmill but raising one of her eyebrows up at Ryan, letting him know that she wasn't in the mood for his teasing.

Ryan couldn't help but chuckle at both her words and the expression on her face. He noticed that his boss was glaring at him again out of the corner of his eye and so he knew he needed to move away from Haley altogether, especially as he had another appointment starting in a couple of minutes. He collected himself and tapped the railing of Haley's machine a couple of times. "Well, don't worry; we can work on it on Monday. I'll pick you up at half six, okay?" He said and then smiled up at Haley.

Haley wanted the ground to open up and swallow her. She could feel Brooke's curiosity hitting her body in rapid waves and she dreaded what she'd find when she was left alone with her. There was a part of her which wanted Ryan to stay because she didn't want to have to face Brooke on her own, and another part of her wanted Ryan to get lost because Lord only knew what he would say next. She was caught between a rock and a hard place, and she wasn't sure what she could say to Brooke if she were to start insinuating things again. She didn't want her to find out about the training but then what excuse could she use to stop her from uncovering the truth? She sighed in resignation, because she could see that Ryan was waiting for an answer from her, and she knew she had to give him one. "Sure." She responded, and then tried her best to smile back at him.

"Cool, so I'll see you Monday, Haley." Ryan said, beaming at her as he walked away from the treadmills and began to walk back to the front desk, his boss scowling at him all the way, but he didn't care. He turned around once more and glanced at her, seeing that she was already making her way into the changing rooms.

Haley ran off her machine as soon as Ryan had moved out of the way, not even bothering to finish her cool down. She could hear Brooke scrambling to get off her machine and then she could feel her presence behind her, but she just made herself walk at a much faster pace, practically running to her locker. She quickly got out her towel and her toiletries and then locked herself in a cubicle before Brooke could even utter her name.

Brooke was, by now, absolutely convinced that Haley was superwoman. How she'd managed to rush back into the changing room and get herself in the shower that quickly, after having run for as long as she had, she'd never know. But she didn't linger on those thoughts because she was far too excited about what she could do to help get Haley and Ryan together. From what she'd observed, Haley seemed rather oblivious to Ryan's affections, so maybe she'd need a little push or something? She smiled widely at the thought of finally getting them both together as she gathered her towel and her shampoo, before making her way into the shower cubicle next to the one she'd seen Haley rush into.

Haley was holding her breath as she stood under the shower spray, just waiting for Brooke to open her mouth and question her endlessly about what was going on between herself and Ryan, or what was happening at half past six on Monday, or whatever the hell else she was dying to know. By the time she'd managed to wash out her shampoo, she was rather surprised that Brooke had yet to begin her questioning, and when she'd managed to condition and wash her body, she was downright amazed. She'd never known Brooke to display such tenacity and she was incredibly shocked, to say the least.

Brooke decided to play this an entirely different way than she usually would. Although she was practically bursting at the seams with curiosity, she decided to show some self restraint and not fire questions at Haley. She already knew that Ryan was into her and judging by how coy Haley was acting around him, she suspected that Haley had a soft spot for him too, so she didn't really need to fish for more information. All she had to do was provide the perfect setting for them to realise their feelings for each other.

By the time they had made it to the bar, Haley was more than a little bit suspicious. Brooke still hadn't asked even one question about Ryan and it was starting to completely unnerve her. However, not wanting to prod the beast, she decided to just let it go. The last thing she wanted to do was provide Brooke with an open invitation to question her about something she really didn't want to talk about. She just hoped that Brooke would have enough tact so that she wouldn't to mention this in front of everyone, especially Nathan.

Haley was incredibly surprised to find that all of the gang was already inside the bar, sitting at their usual table. She glanced down at her watch and saw that it was still five to seven, so at least she and Brooke wouldn't have to shoulder the entire drinks bill tonight. She raised her eyes back to her friends and found that Nathan was staring right at her with a smile spread across his face, and she couldn't help but smile back at him. Her eyes ran quickly over his features, and though she could still see a hint of sadness there, which was to be expected, she couldn't help but be amazed at how much lighter he seemed ever since he'd been to see Lily, even in the little time that had passed since the visit. It really was so pleasing to see that he was finally starting to work through all his issues, and though he had a long way to go, she was absolutely certain that he'd get through it.

Nathan had been keeping his eyes on the door ever since he'd arrived at the bar ten minutes ago, just waiting for Haley to arrive. He'd been ridiculously busy today, trying to catch up on all the hours he'd spent not working over the past couple of days, and so he hadn't spoken to her at all during the day. The only communication he'd had with her was him receiving a text telling him to head to the bar without her, which he'd not been able to respond to because he'd been stuck in meetings all afternoon. So when he finally saw her walk through the door, this warm glow flowed through his body and he couldn't help the smile from forming on his face. He watched as she smiled back at him, his own growing in width and then he saw her eyes flicker over his face, her expression showing her concern. He had to scowl inwardly at himself because he hated causing her any worry, it was entirely unnecessary for her to be anxious about him. However, he soon forgot about that and watched as Haley walked over to the table. He scooted along the booth, giving her room to sit beside him.

Haley walked over to the booth behind Brooke and watched as Nathan shifted along the bench. She was rather relieved that Brooke slid into a seat on the opposite side of the table so at least she could ignore her all evening if need be. Sliding her body beside Nathan, she glanced down at the table, seeing that he was already on the scotch, which was a little concerning. But she decided to bite her tongue, reminding herself that he'd had a really stressful and trying week, and the last thing he needed was her giving him a lecture on drinking too much.

As soon as Haley sat down next to him, Nathan felt himself calm down significantly. All the angst and worry seemed to evaporate from his body and the weight once again lifted from his shoulders. He could smell her perfume, her incredibly scent swirling around him and he completely basked in her presence. He removed one of his hands which was curled around his glass of scotch and rested his arm along the back of the booth behind Haley, switching his position slightly so that he was sat closer to her. As he was adjusting his stance, he felt his leg brush up against hers and he instantly flinched away from the contact, the searing heat from her touch rushing quickly through his veins. He silently reprimanded himself and told himself to stop being so silly, and rested his leg back against hers, giving her a small smile as he did so. He leaned his head forward until his mouth was at her ear, breathing in her incredible aroma, closing his eyes as he allowed himself to acknowledge just how good she smelt for a second. "You have a good day, gorgeous?" He whispered to her, moving his head even further forward so that he could place a soft kiss on her head.

Haley closed her eyes as she felt Nathan press his lips softly to her head, relishing in him being so close to her. She tilted her head ever so slightly, just so that she could get an optimum sniff of his sexy aftershave, and as the scent filled her, she had to bite back the moan which threatened to escape from her lips. She felt him linger in her hair for a little longer than was necessary, but before she could process that thought any longer, she felt him pull away from her, and when she opened her eyes she found him right in front of her, looking at her really intently. "Yes, my day was fine, how about you?" She asked, slightly mesmerised at how intense his eyes seemed to be regarding her.

Because of the kiss he had left on her head, some of Haley's hair had fallen from where it had been secured around her ear. Nathan reached over with his hand and smoothed her hair away from her face, placing it behind her ear, smiling softly as he did so. He looked into her endless brown eyes as his fingertips trailed behind her ear and then gently ran his fingers over the skin at the nape of her neck. "My day was busy, and I didn't get nearly enough work done but I'm more than happy it's the weekend now." He muttered back to her.

Haley hummed in response, closing her eyes once again as she enjoyed the sensation of having Nathan's fingers touching her neck like he was. His fingers sent this rush of pleasure around her whole body and she had to continuously bite back the series of moans which were threatening to come out. She allowed herself one, small, breathy moan, purely because she couldn't hold it in any longer. "Mmm, me too." She responded and then bit down on her lip to prevent herself from moaning any louder than she had already done.

God, she'd just moaned and now Nathan was as hard as a rock. He gritted his teeth together, wanting nothing more than to feel Haley's hands on his body. He was well aware that he could excuse himself and use the restrooms but he knew his own attempts at relieving his frustrations would only cause him to become even more frustrated than he already was, because nothing, nothing in this entire world, compared to how Haley made him feel. And it was only those sensations which he wanted, it was only the sensations she managed to evoke inside of him that he craved.

Brooke frowned as she watched the spectacle which was going on in front of her eyes. She analysed every single touch and look shared between Nathan and Haley, and instantly compared it to how she'd seen Haley interact with Ryan. She wasn't surprised by Nathan kissing her head, he did that all the time, nor was she surprised by their quiet whispering, because, again, that was something they had been doing ever since they were young. But what was shocking her was the intense way they were looking at each other, because that was definitely new, and it was also definitely interesting. Haley certainly hadn't looked at Ryan like that. She hadn't looked at him with even an ounce of the intensity she was currently using as she gazed at Nathan.

Haley felt like she was trapped in some kind of magical spell. Nathan's fingers were continuing to caress the skin behind her neck, causing this delicious myriad of sensations to run up and down her body, making her quiver slightly. She tried to move her eyes from his penetrating gaze but somehow they were completely locked with his, and she was rendered completely helpless and unable to move, even if she had wanted to.

"Haley, can I get you a drink?" Lucas asked.

And just like that, the spell had been broken.

Nathan hastily moved his hand from behind Haley's neck and rested it on the top of the seat behind her again.

Haley blushed from head to toe, narrowly avoiding having to physically move her head away from Nathan's gaze, and nodded at Lucas, biting down on her lip in complete and utter embarrassment.

Brooke wanted to actually stab Lucas for interrupting them, for she'd been having far too much fun trying to work out what the hell was going on in that incredible look Nathan and Haley had been giving each other. She instantly cut her eyes to Lucas, glaring outrageously at him.

Lucas simply rolled his eyes, at both Brooke and Nathan and Haley.

~*~

Nathan left his arm resting behind Haley all night. He wasn't sure why he did it exactly, but it was a way for him to feel closer to her somehow. So because his arm was otherwise engaged, he therefore drunk with his left hand rather than his usual right, and although it felt a little bit weird, he still didn't want to move his arm from behind her, so he put up with the awkwardness. He wasn't sure how many drinks he'd had, nor was he aware of the time. Haley was currently conversing animatedly with Peyton and Jake and he could sense that Lucas, who was sat on the other side of him, was trying to build up the courage to talk to him. Eventually, after what had to be a fairly substantial amount of time, his brother finally spoke to him.

"So Brooke and I are going to the cemetery tomorrow... I don't want to cause a scene; I don't want to push you or anything, I just wanted to know if you want to come with us." Lucas said calmly and quietly, so that no one else would be privy to their conversation. He didn't know why it had taken so much thought for him to say that to Nathan but he was mindfully aware of how his brother usually acted whenever the subject of Lily was bought up. He winced slightly as he waited for the anger he was sure would ensue, wondering why he'd even bothered to say anything at all. Surely he knew by now that the whole Lily and Nathan situation was better left alone?

Nathan sighed heavily as he picked up his scotch glass with his left hand, turning his head away from his brother as he felt Haley move away from him and slide out of the booth. He should have known that Lily would be on the agenda today. His eyes moved up and down Haley's body as he watched her ask everyone what they wanted to drink, presumably she'd decided that it was her turn to pay for the next round. He lifted his hips up off the seat and pried his wallet out of his back pocket with his right hand as his left was still holding onto his glass, pulling out a pile of bills.

Haley had just taken Luke's order of a JD and coke and then turned her attention to Nathan. She saw that he had a wad of bills in his hand which was outstretched towards her. She chose to ignore the money. "You're not having another neat Scotch, Nathan, so what's it going to be?" She asked and watched as Nathan flashed her an incredulous look, to which she folded her arms across her chest and raised her eyebrow at him. He hadn't been drinking anything but Scotch since they arrived and she wasn't going to carry him home, and besides, she was worried about him drowning his guilt in alcohol too.

"Why the hell not?" Nathan asked, flailing his arms around and forgetting that he still had his glass of Scotch in his hands, meaning that most of the liquid sloshed around in the glass and landed on his trousers. "Shit!"

Haley rolled her eyes at Nathan. "That's why you're not having another neat Scotch, you're drunk!" She exclaimed, motioning with her hands to the wet spot on his thigh. She made a mental note to take that particular suit down to the dry cleaners tomorrow, otherwise Nathan would just leave it in his wardrobe and probably try to wear it again.

Nathan knew that he couldn't really saying anything back to Haley, because he'd had rather a lot of Scotch tonight, and the evidence of his slightly tipsy state had just been displayed right in front of her eyes. So he conceded instead of arguing with her, though he did sigh heavily at having to do so. "Fine, I'll take a JD and coke too. Here." He said, waving the money in front of Haley so that she could take it.

Haley sighed loudly as Nathan waved the cash in front of her. "I don't need the money, Nathan." She said indignantly and then turned on her heel so that she could walk up to the bar and pay for the drinks with her own money. Honestly, she knew Nathan was just trying to be nice and caring but she could afford to pay for a round of drinks for crying out loud.

Nathan watched Haley walk away from him and he would have run after her and made her take the money but he was acutely aware of the fact that he was a little worse for wear, and any attempts at running would more likely than not end up with him tripping over and falling flat on his face. So he decided to stay put. He gulped what was left of his Scotch, savouring the taste of the neat alcohol because Haley had put her foot down and his next drink would be watered down with some soda. Once he had finished the drink he placed his drink down on the table and turned to find Lucas still waiting expectantly for an answer to his seeing Lily question from a moment ago. "I went to see Lily this week, so no; I won't be going with you." He responded and then slumped down in his seat, fiddling with the bills Haley had refused to take from him.

Lucas was sure that his mouth dropped open in shock. Nathan had been to see Lily? He had a thousand and one questions running through his mind but from the look of his brother and the stance he was currently seated in, he knew that he would rather he didn't ask. He glanced over at the busy bar and could see Haley struggling to get to the front, and he knew that she would have the answers to some, if not all of the questions currently milling through his mind. "Do you want me to pay for the drinks with that cash?" He asked, motioning with his head to the bills which were still in Nathan's hands.

"Well, yeah, but Haley won't let you. She'd got her determined face on, and I don't mess with that face." Nathan responded. He knew all too well that there was absolutely no way in hell you could argue with that look, he'd tried a thousand times and failed before. It was why he hadn't been able to buy a pool table for the apartment, or go and beat the living hell out of Chase when he'd finished with her.

Lucas snatched the money out of Nathan's hand, not willing to miss an opportunity tonight where he could speak with Haley uninterrupted and in private. "Let me see if I can get her to take it." He said and then pushed his brother out of the way so that he could get to the bar and ultimately have some of his questions answered.

"Good luck!" Nathan called after his brother, chuckling to himself as he played with his now empty Scotch glass, knowing that he didn't stand a chance of getting Haley to accept that money. He frowned as he moved the glass along the table between his hands, wondering why he suddenly felt incredibly drunk.

Lucas meandered his way to the bar and pushed his way through the throngs of people until he was beside Haley. He gave her a smile when she turned her head and looked at him, only she rolled her eyes at him.

"Tell Nathan I'm not taking the money." Haley said, not believing that Nathan had sent his brother up to the bar to give her the money she didn't want, or needed, to take from him.

Lucas chuckled as Haley unleashed the 'determined face' which his brother had been alluding to. "Alright, I'll give the money back to him when we get back to the table, he said you wouldn't accept it anyway."

"Well he's right; I can pay for a round of drinks with my own money." Haley responded and huffed to herself. Honestly, it wasn't like she was poor or anything, granted she probably couldn't afford to live anywhere nearly as nice as the apartment Nathan bought but still, she had money to live off.

Lucas shuffled from one foot to the other, unsure of how best to bring up the whole Lily thing, until he decided it was probably best if he just came right out with it. It wasn't like they had a whole host of time to chat away about it either, he only had as much time as it took them to get served and take the drinks back to the table. "He also said he went to see Lily?" He said it as a question almost, because he just realised that Haley might not even know, but then he dismissed that idea, because Nathan and Haley knew everything about each other.

Haley glanced down at the floor for a second before bringing her gaze back up to meet Lucas'. She could see the curiosity and the worry he held for his brother in his eyes and any thoughts she'd had of protecting Nathan from talking about Lily behind his back melted away, because she knew that Lucas was just concerned about his brother. "He did. He didn't tell me he was going and his office called later on in the morning asking where he was, and I guess I just had a hunch so I caught the train up there and found him at the cemetery." She revealed, remembering the way she'd found Nathan sobbing his heart out. She felt her chest constrict at the memory, and she had to concentrate very hard to stop the tears from forming in her eyes. "We stayed for a while and then we came home." She didn't want to tell him about how angry Nathan had been, how filled with guilt he was because that wasn't her story to tell, so she simply stuck to facts.

"I can't believe he actually went, I mean, I'm incredibly glad that he did but… how was he?" Lucas asked, the shock and the worry he felt towards his brother mixing together inside of him, causing him to feel slightly uncomfortable.

"He was a mess, but I guess that's to be expected. He seems better now though, I mean, I think he's actually starting to work through it." Haley replied, knowing that she needed to give Lucas a satisfactory answer to appease his concern but also tying her best to remain extremely vague.

Lucas didn't respond, too shocked to form words and instead just nodded his head. He was still so surprised that Nathan had actually been to see Lily of his own accord. He spaced out, vaguely aware of Haley ordering drinks and when Julian placed the drinks down on the bar he snapped out of his musings. He picked up four of the drinks, spreading them between his fingers and then began to walk back to the table with her. "Thank you, Haley." He said sincerely, unable to image just how 'messy' things had been both at the cemetery and once they managed to get themselves home. "I honestly don't know what Nathan would do without you."

Haley smiled up at Lucas and then glanced down at Nathan given that they had now reached the table. She sighed and raised her eyebrow at Nathan. "Evidently he'd fall asleep in bars and have no one around to take him home."

Lucas laughed at Haley as he handed the drinks out to his friends, shaking his head at his brother who had fallen asleep. Though after the week he'd had, he couldn't blame him, he was sure he was absolutely exhausted.

Haley smiled fondly at Nathan as she sat down in the booth beside him, prodding him in the chest with her finger, startling him a little. "How are you doing, Mister?" Haley asked, watching as Nathan blinked a couple of times and glanced around, trying to get his bearings. She giggled quietly to herself. "You fell asleep."

Nathan continued to glance around the room, seeing that he was still at the bar. "I wasn't sleeping; I was just resting my eyes." He responded as he struggled to keep them open, finding himself surrounded by darkness again, before he forced his eyes open and battled with himself to keep them that way.

"Sure you were." Haley said with a soft smile, and then reached out and brushed her fingers along his cheek, feeling the stubble beneath her fingertips. "Let's get you home."

Lucas helped Haley pry Nathan off his seat and then staggered with him outside, holding him up while Haley hailed a cab. He managed to get him inside the car and then shut the door, leaning in through the window. He grabbed his brother's cash which he had earlier stuffed in his pocket and waved it in front of Nathan's face. "She didn't take it." He said, smiling over at Haley who was sat on the seat next to him.

Nathan took the cash from his brother's hand and smiled. "I told you, bro, she had the determined face on her. You don't mess with that face."

~*~

Haley stepped back, admiring her handiwork. She had to admit that she'd done rather a fine job of it, even if she said so herself. She rearranged some of the pillows she'd brought up with her, checked that the wine was chilling nicely and then walked back down the stairs to the apartment, letting herself in. "Nathan?" She called as she walked through to the lounge, finding him sat on the sofa playing the racing game she'd been absolutely awful at the other night. She beamed a smile over at him when he looked over to where she was leaning against the door frame. "It's ready."

Nathan couldn't help the eye roll. Haley had been God knows where for the last hour, trudging in and out of the apartment like the ultimate busy bee, and he'd been instructed to plant his ass on the sofa and not move until she told him to, which apparently was now. "So I'm allowed to move now, am I?" He asked, raising his eyebrow at Haley who was still standing against the door frame, bouncing on her feet.

"Yep, come on. Turn that game off." Haley instructed as she beckoned him over with her hand. She waited rather impatiently for him to save his game and then switch the Xbox off before she led the way out of the apartment, making sure she brought her keys with her because Nathan wouldn't be inside to let her in like he had been earlier on when she had forgotten them during her preparation.

Nathan wasn't sure where the hell Haley was going and so he followed her blindly out of the apartment, his mind racing as to what she could have planned for them. "Do I need to bring anything?" He called after her just before he closed the front door, stopping the lock from clicking with his foot, but Haley had already rounded the corner and had begun to ascend the stairs, so he guessed not. He closed the door behind him, not even bothering to put some shoes on his bare feet and jogged after her, not being able to work out what the hell she was doing, or why she was leading him up the stairs of the apartment block.

Haley could hear Nathan running up the stairs after her and she giggled as she sprinted up, for once not feeling out of breath, which she knew she could put down to the hours she'd spent training in the gym for the marathon. Once she had reached the top, she held open the door and waited for Nathan to catch her up. She grinned when she heard him panting slightly, revelling inside at how fit she'd become in a relatively short space of time.

Taking a deep breath, Nathan couldn't help but smile at Haley's grin which was spread right across her face. She motioned for him to walk through the door to the roof terrace which she was holding open, and so he walked outside and turned the corner, gasping at what he saw in front of him. There were cushions of varying shapes and sizes spread across the floor with a picnic set up and candles lit everywhere, providing light to what would otherwise be a dark, clear night. "God, you have been busy, gorgeous, haven't you?" He muttered and shook his head slightly from his musings when he saw Haley move in front of him. She sat herself down on a pile of cushions and poured some wine into two glasses, picking one up from the ground and holding it out towards him, inviting him over to join her.

"The roof terrace was on your list, so I thought it would be nice for us to spend some time up here before… well… you know." Haley blushed slightly, wondering why she still had a hard time verbalising what she knew was going to happen anyway but she sighed and consented to the fact that she'd probably always be this way. She'd been racking her brain all day, trying to think of what she and Nathan could tick off this weekend. She didn't want something too kinky or heavy because after the week they'd both had, she just wanted to be close to him and spend some quality time with him. The roof terrace seemed to be the perfect place for them to talk, enjoy each other's company and tick something off at the same time.

Nathan accepted the glass from Haley and sunk himself down on the cushions, adjusting himself so that his long legs were stretched out in front of him as he sat himself next to Haley. He sighed contentedly, as he glanced up, seeing the tall buildings of the New York skyline lit up against the dark sky, twinkling like fairy lights above them. He then moved his gaze across to Haley and smiled softly at her. "We don't use this space nearly enough." He said, while he watched, completely mesmerised as the candlelight made her deep brown eyes sparkle back at him.

"I know. We really don't. And it's such a great place." Haley responded as her eyes drifted away from Nathan's and settled on the roof terrace. There was a great area for entertaining and the gardener had done a great job, placing pots and hanging baskets all over the place which were just beginning to flower, adding various colours to the space. They sat in silence for a while, the sound of the traffic below them filtering softly up to where they were seated, creating a gentle hum which buzzed around them. Running her finger up and down the stem of her wine glass, she quickly became lost in her thoughts, thinking about the past week and all that had happened. She unknowingly bit down on her lip as her fingers moved to the curve of the glass, picking up the condensation which had built there before she absentmindedly ran her index finger around the rim of the glass.

Nathan's eyes followed Haley finger, watching as it slowly ran up to the rim of the glass, the moisture from the condensation building before it ran down the side, picking up more as it rolled down the glass. He lifted his eyes once he'd watched her finger run around the rim of it a dozen or so times, seeing that she was biting down on her lip, and sensing from the look on her face that she was miles away. He sighed heavily to himself, knowing that she was thinking about Lily, worrying about him and how he was doing. "Gorgeous?" He asked, softly jolting her out of her thoughts.

"Hmmm?" Haley hummed as she snapped her head towards Nathan so that she could connect her gaze with his, seeing that he wore a rather concerned expression on his face, which made her wonder what he was thinking about. "What's up?"

Nathan chuckled quietly to himself. "You. I'm worried about what's making you look so worried." He said, wondering if that even made an ounce of sense. He shook his head a few times, before he tried again. "What I mean, gorgeous, is that you don't need to worry about me. I'm fine."

Haley lowered her eyes down to her wine glass sheepishly and then raised them to connect her gaze back with Nathan's. "Am I that obvious?" She murmured, her eyes running quickly over his face, trying to assess whether he really was fine, or whether he was lying to her. He couldn't be fine, not after all that he'd been through this week and she instantly knew that he was putting on a false bravado, trying to protect her from his pain and guilt and whatever else he was feeling. But she didn't want him to do that, she wanted him to be open and honest with her, she just wasn't sure how to get him to be that way with her.

Nathan reached over and placed a lock of her hair securely behind her ear, his fingers running softly through her long hair until they rested on her shoulder. He ran his hand gently down her arm, breathing in deeply as he saw the goose bumps appear on her skin, a trail of them visible, precisely following the path of his fingers. His fingers eventually reached her hand and he entwined his fingers with hers before resting their clasped hands in her lap. "Yes, you are that obvious. And I mean what I say, I'm fine." He assured her.

Haley shivered slightly as she felt Nathan's fingers lace with hers and she watched as he rested their joined hands in her lap. With her free hand she picked up her wine glass and took a sip, her eyes regarding Nathan suspiciously, gazing into his blue eyes intently, as if she were searching for the answers she needed to appease her angst. Once she'd taken a sip, she lowered her glass down to the floor beside her, her eyes never leaving his. "You're not fine, Nathan." She said softly. "I can see that you're not okay. Please don't hide yourself from me. I want us to talk. I want you to talk to me."

Nathan was slightly pissed that his cover had been blow but he knew that he shouldn't have tried to conceal how he was really doing from Haley; she knew him far too well and could read him like a book. He sighed as his grip on her hand tightened briefly, looking away from her as he did so. He wasn't looking at anything in particular, and his mind wasn't really registering what his eyes were seeing anyway, because it was flooded with memories again. Over the past couple of days he'd been getting better, working with himself to allow them into his mind, trying his best to remember the good times rather than focussing on the bad, like Haley had said while they were at the cemetery. He smiled to himself as he remembered how excited Lily had been when she landed her first role in the school nativity play, somehow landing the lead role of Mary. She took meticulous care of the baby Jesus doll, despite him and Lucas teasing her endlessly for it. She hadn't really been a doll kind of girl, probably the product of having two older brothers who preferred rolling around in the dirt. He brought himself out of his memories and glanced down at his and Haley's joined hands, suddenly registering the fact that her thumb was rubbing soothing circles over his hand. He smiled at the gesture and then sighed softly to himself in resignation. "Okay, so I might not be fine, but I promise I'm doing much better." He said honestly.

Haley breathed a sigh of relief that he was being honest with her and she smiled encouragingly at him, even though his eyes seemed to be trained on their entwined hands rather than her. She continued to run her thumb in small circles on his hand, wanting him to know that she was here, and that she was listening, and that she was willing to wait for as long as it took him to talk about it all. "I know you're doing much better, Nathan. Even though it's only been a few days since we went to the cemetery, I can already see a change in you. You seem, I don't know, lighter maybe?" She said in a voice which registered just above a whisper.

Nathan lifted his eyes from where he had been staring intently at their hands and connected his gaze with Haley's earnest eyes. He smiled, appreciative of her encouragement and then used his free hand to bring his wine glass to his lips, using the time to try to come up with a response to her statement. He looked away from her after he had placed the glass back on the ground. "I guess I do feel lighter. I don't know, I think going to the cemetery really helped me to digest the situation, you know? Like it made me face it all head on, and I realise now that all I was doing before was hiding from it, burying my head in the sand. It wasn't that I didn't comprehend that she was gone, because I know she's not coming back, but, in a way I guess it just cemented it all together for me. Like it became reality inside my head or something. Does that even make any sense?" He said, his forehead creasing into a frown. He really was trying to communicate with Haley, but he couldn't seem to form the words to make them mean anything. It all made sense inside his head, but he was sure that to another human being it sounded weird.

"Of course it makes sense, Nathan." Haley responded. "Honestly, I'm just so pleased that you built up the courage to go there in the first place. I'm so proud of you because I know that wasn't an easy decision for you to have made."

Nathan sighed softly to himself as he thought through the reasons as to why he hadn't wanted to go there in the first place. "I was just scared I think. I'd built this wall around it all inside of my head, locked everything away so that I wouldn't have to deal with it and I guess I thought that going to the cemetery would somehow cause the whole thing to just burst open and I wouldn't be able to deal with it all. And it did, I mean, seeing that stone with her name on it, it did cause the boxes to unlock and the memories to return." He turned his gaze to Haley and squeezed her hand tightly as he stared into his glass of wine. "I don't think I'd have been able to cope with it if you hadn't come to find me, if you hadn't been there with me..." He trailed off, not wanting to finish the sentence.

Haley didn't know why but she felt this rush of emotion run through her veins, making her entire body tingle from his words. In that instant, she wanted to be as close as possible to him; she didn't want even an inch of space between them. She continued to look at Nathan, seeing that he was staring into his wine glass and she frowned, wanting to reassure him. She shuffled over to him, closing the slight distance that was between them and crawled into his lap, lifting one of her legs over his which were still stretched out in front of him. She settled herself down in his lap and lifted her hands so that they were cupping his face, gently lifting it until he was looking her in the eyes. "Hey." She said softly, smiling gently as she saw his blue eyes connect with hers. "I'm always going to be there, Nathan. I'm not going anywhere."

Nathan smiled softly in relief as he absorbed her words, the reassurance she was giving him quashing his anxiety completely. He stared back into her eyes, seeing that she completely meant what she was saying to him too. He lifted his hands and wrapped his arms around her waist, pushing her into his chest so that he was hugging her tightly. He buried his head in the crook of her neck, breathing in her incredible scent which served to calm his mind down even further. Running his hands up and down her back lightly, he released a long breath against her skin. "I'm not going anywhere either. I couldn't." He murmured, thinking that his words were getting lost given how close his mouth was to her skin.

Haley sighed softly against his shoulder, his words warming her entire body. "I don't want you to." She responded quietly. She closed her eyes as she simply revelled in being in his embrace, her palms resting on his back. She could feel his fingers moving softly over her back, following her spine up to her neck and then running back down again. The sensation caused her to shiver slightly and as she did so she noticed that Nathan stilled the movement of his hand.

As soon as Nathan felt Haley shiver underneath his fingertips, he immediately stopped his hands from moving any further and pulled himself away from her. He looked earnestly into her eyes, seeing the confusion in her expression. "Are you cold, gorgeous?" He asked. He didn't feel too cold, the night air was mild for the time of year, but he was wearing a t-shirt whereas she was wearing a spaghetti string, white top.

Haley shook her head as she gazed into his eyes. "I'm not cold, Nathan." She responded, and then bit down on her lip. The need she felt for him was growing rapidly, the feeling of his breath fanning over her face causing her to crave him intently. She tried to convey what she wanted through her eyes, and she breathed in and out deeply, watching as Nathan's eyes grew darker, causing her to want him even more. She took another deep breath. "I just like the feel of your hands on me."

Nathan couldn't help the fact that the corners of his mouth pulled up slightly, but he worked hard to maintain his expression, trying not to allow the smirk to cover his face. He did continue to move his fingers up and down Haley's spine, licking his lips when he felt her shudder when his hands moved over the bottom curve of her back. "You like the feel of my hands, huh?" He asked, reaching the hem of her top and moving his hands underneath the material. He continued to trace her spine, inching his fingers further underneath the fabric, skimming past her bra strap. He watched as she bit down on her lip, obviously trying to bite back the moan he was sure was building up inside of her. He pushed her closer to him, instantly feeling his cock begin to harden as she shuffled along the top of his thighs, and when she was close enough, he leaned his head down and pressed his lips to her neck, leaving a trail of feather light kisses until he got to her ear. "What about my mouth, gorgeous? Do you like the feel of my mouth on you?"

"Yes." Haley answered simply, because the truth of the matter was that she liked the feel of any part of Nathan on her body. She felt his warm breath hit her skin once again, causing her to shudder once more as he combined his kisses with a caress of her lower back. She knew exactly what he was doing, he was teasing her now, and so, in retaliation, she began to shift her hips softly, feeling his arousal through both of their jeans. She heard him gasp quietly at her actions and she stifled a grin, but then his tongue poked out between his lips and he licked her skin, before biting down on her pulse point. She couldn't help the moan which fell from her lips in response to his actions. Her hands travelled up his back and she tangled her fingers in his hair, pulling on the strands, and she then felt his teeth nip at her skin, giving her more, which was exactly what she wanted.

She was moving against his cock at a much quicker pace now, but it was still torturous, because Nathan knew exactly what was waiting for him beneath the denim fabric, and it was something he wanted very much. The friction she was providing wasn't nearly enough to keep him sated. He moved his hands back down her spine, stopping at her bra strap to unfasten it and as he reached the bottom of her back again, he swiftly moved his hands to the front of her body, unbuttoning her jeans. He continued to move his mouth over her neck, before he lowered his mouth to her shoulder, biting his way along it. Once he got the zipper of her jeans down, he trailed his hands inside the loose denim until he reached her ass. Cupping her ass cheeks with his hands, he applied some pressure and pushed her against his now throbbing cock. He growled as he heard her quiet moan. "Is that what you want?" He asked in low voice, full of need.

Haley felt him squeeze her ass as he continued to shift her over his cock, giving her no way near enough friction. His mouth had moved back to her neck and she could feel her bra hanging loosely on her chest, and all she wanted in that moment was for him to rip her clothes off her body and thrust inside of her, because although what he was doing felt amazing, she knew that it was nothing compared to the real thing. So she shook her head, biting down on her lip as her hips passed along his length again. She couldn't bring herself to form any words, she was too lost, too full of absolute craving for him.

Nathan could feel her shaking her head at him and he smirked against her neck, because of course it wasn't what she wanted. He knew that she wanted exactly what he did. He moved his head from her neck and his hands from her ass, hearing her moan softly in protest, and then began to bunch up her top. Haley seemed to understand what he wanted because her hands moved from his hair and she lifted them in the air so that he could take the top off her body. He threw it somewhere behind him and ran his eyes down her torso, his gaze lingering on her breasts which were partly secured in an incredibly sexy, white bra. He groaned to himself, because she really was absolutely perfect, and then his gaze wandered further down her body, until it rested on the matching pair of panties he could see because her jeans were undone. He licked his lips and moved both of his hands back around her waist, grabbing a hold of her and then flipping her over, making sure that her hips were resting on a pile of cushions.

Haley yelped as Nathan changed their positions so that he was hovering over her instead of her being on top of him. She watched as he looked intently into her eyes, smiling up at him as her hands found their way back into his hair. She raked her nails over his scalp, seeing his eyes shut for a brief moment, and then when he opened them again, he lifted himself up off her slightly so that he could run his eyes down the length of her body. She heard him mutter something to himself but it was so quiet she wasn't able to catch it. She was just about to ask him what he'd just said when she felt him shift himself onto his knees and got distracted because he then began to tug on her jeans, obviously wanting them off her body.

"God, you're so perfect." Nathan muttered as his eyes swept over her body. He could feel the hunger he felt for her inside of him building until he wasn't able to hold off any longer. He desperately wanted to touch her, to taste her, to feel himself inside of her. And as soon as the thought entered his head he quickly moved himself onto his knees and tugged on her jeans, silently communicating with her that he wanted them off her body. He waited for her to lift her hips up off the cushions and once they were raised in the air he pulled both her jeans and her panties down her legs, throwing them behind him once they were off her body. His eyes trailed up her legs until he got to the apex of her thighs, seeing that her pussy was actually glistening with her wetness. He groaned as he felt his cock harden further, so much so that he was actually uncomfortable but he couldn't bring himself to take the time to remove his jeans because he was that desperate to touch her.

Haley lowered her hips back onto the cushion once Nathan had removed her jeans and she watched as his eyes travelled over her legs and then lingered on her centre. She saw his eyes darken as the candlelight flickered around them and even though usually she would be blushing from head to toe from his gaze, she couldn't find it in her to do so, because he was looking at her with pure want and hunger and longing and it was just so damn sexy, that she felt this surge of confidence rush through her body. She felt Nathan curl his hand around her right leg and he held it up in the air, running his nose along the length of her calf, until he got to her ankle, and then he began to leave a trail of hot, wet kisses right up her leg. She instantly began to wither as a result of his ministrations.

Nathan continued to move his mouth up her leg, running his tongue around her knee before he pressed kisses along her thigh. He was getting closer and closer to where he desperately wanted to taste, and he would have continued to move down her other leg, waiting until she begged for him to put his mouth on her, but he could actually smell her arousal and it was turning him on so much he didn't possess the self-restraint to deny himself for any longer than he already had. He sucked on the skin right at the top of her thigh as he moved one of his hands to her pussy, running his finger through her folds, groaning when he found her soaking. "So damn wet." He mumbled into her leg, before his hand reached her entrance and he slowly pushed two of his fingers inside of her.

Haley gasped as she felt Nathan's fingers press inside of her and she lifted her hips off the cushions, wanting them to travel deeper. He twisted them inside of her and then stilled his motions, so she lowered her hips back down to the cushion but as soon as she touched the silk, she felt him curl his fingers and move them back out of her, rubbing against her g-spot which caused her hips to buck off the pillow again. "Jesus Christ." She moaned, and then gasped when she felt his mouth move from her thigh and felt his tongue flick her clit lightly.

Nathan groaned as his tongue moved against her clit, hearing her gasp in response to his actions. He moved his fingers out of her and added a third, spreading her and increasing the pace, curling his fingers each time they moved out of her so he continuously hit that spot, the one he knew brought her to orgasm really quickly. He pressed his tongue against her clit and circled it a couple of times, before sucking it into his mouth. He could feel Haley wiggling and he moved his free hand to her torso, pressing down lightly in an attempt to stop her movement. He could tell that she was trying to stifle her moaning and he instantly decided that he wasn't having that. He moved his mouth away from her clit and blew softly on her skin, hearing her try to compress another moan. In response he instantly increased the pace of his fingers. "Oh no you don't, Hales. I want to hear you." He said, before placing his tongue back on her clit, hearing her release an incredibly satisfying loud moan as his fingers continued their frantic pace.

Haley forgot all about her inhibitions, she forgot about the fact that they were outside, albeit on the rooftop, but she had previously been conscious of the fact that she was worried about people hearing her. She had been incredibly mindful of the level of noise she was making but when Nathan increased the movement of his fingers and pressed his tongue in a ferocious rhythm against her clit, combined with her request of letting him hear her, she stood no chance of keeping quiet. Her orgasm was building quickly and she moved her hands to Nathan's hair, pulling on it as her thighs clamped together around his head, her entire body shaking with the force of her pleasure. "God, Nathan." She cried out as her body continued to shudder as wave after wave of sensation flooded her body.

Nathan felt Haley release the death clamp her legs had on his head as he rode out her orgasm with her, slowing down both his mouth and his fingers. Once her body had stopped shaking, he moved both his hands up along the side of her body, caressing her hips, her waist and then moving up to her bra, which he took off her body and flung behind him. He raised his head and left a trail of kisses along her stomach, moving to her left breast where he licked a circle around her nipple and then sucked it into his mouth. He captured her nipple between his teeth and tugged gently on it, hearing her moan and feeling her shift underneath him, before he released it. He crawled up her body and settled himself on top of her, resting his forearms on the cushions beside her body, staring into her eyes.

Haley was still struggling to catch her breath as she gazed into Nathan's eyes while he hovered above her. She licked her lips, suddenly realising that they felt far too try and she saw his eyes peer down at her mouth for a brief second before they returned to connect with her gaze. She wrapped her arms around his back, pushing his body down onto hers, wanting to feel his weight on top of her. She looked intently into his eyes and despite just having had an incredibly powerful orgasm, she didn't feel remotely satisfied because she wanted his cock inside of her, she desperately wanted to rekindle that amazing feeling she had felt crackle between them during the week after they had been to see Lily.

As Nathan lowered his body onto Haley's so that he was covering her, he felt the tip of his incredibly hard cock press against her still very wet pussy, and he heard Haley gasp at the contact. Obviously she was still feeling a little bit sensitive after her first orgasm. He continued to stare into her deep eyes and suddenly had a feeling of déjà vu. He wondered why the feeling like he had been here before rushed into his head when it suddenly struck him that she was looking at him in exactly the same way as she had during the week. He wondered what that meant because their time together during the week had felt so different to their other times at the weekends. And at least he was previously able to single that time out as an irregularity, but now it seemed the lines were becoming increasingly blurred, and it was incredibly confusing. What the hell did all of this mean?

Haley could feel Nathan right where she wanted him to be but he was looking at her with this bemused expression on his face. She rocked her hips as best she could and would have grabbed his cock with her own hands but as she lowered her hands down his back she realised that she couldn't reach him. She was that desperate for him she sighed heavily in exasperation. "Nathan, please… I want you inside me now." She moaned, wondering what was causing the hold up.

Nathan snapped himself out of his thoughts when he heard the desperation behind Haley's voice, and he berated himself for thinking about all of that now, when he had a sexy and willing Haley laying underneath him. He had plenty of time to analyse his feelings and organise his thoughts later. He lifted his hips slightly, causing his cock to brush against Haley's clit, to which she muttered an expletive under her breath and he smirked slightly to himself because she was definitely still sensitive. He grabbed a hold of his cock and slid it between her folds before pressing inside of her slowly and releasing his hand.

"God, I love how good you feel inside of me." Haley muttered as she closed her eyes, savouring the sensation of being so filled by him. She was finding that she loved this part of sex, when he first entered her, second only to the orgasm Nathan could evoke from his actions. She then opened her eyes and found that Nathan was staring at her intensely again, and she raked her nails up his back as she felt him begin to move in and out of her slowly, pulling himself nearly all the way out before filling her with his cock again and again.

Nathan didn't rush his movements because he didn't want it to be over quickly, he wanted to appreciate it, and he wanted to relish this intense connection he had fostered with her for as long as was possible. He found that as he continued to move in and out of her in the languid pace he had set, more and more of their time together during the week was coming back to him, and he realised that the same feelings were currently swimming through his veins. He felt her hands move into his hair, and he groaned when he felt her tug sharply on it, because he really liked it when she did that.

Haley rocked her hips against him, trying to get him to increase the pace a little but she realised after a few rounds that he wasn't cooperating with her. So instead she pushed up on his chest, and was incredibly surprised when he turned them over so that he was now lying on his back and she was now on top of him. She placed her hands on his chest and lifted herself off him before plunging back down on his cock, moaning as she continued this action, upping the pace with each movement of her hips. "God, that's so good." She moaned.

Now that Haley had upped the pace, Nathan groaned because she was leaning forwards and the new angle meant that he was moving deeper and deeper inside of her, which felt absolutely amazing. His previous softer thoughts had been replaced with this complete craving and need for her. He ran his eyes up and down her body, until they rested where they were joined and he groaned once again, completely mesmerised with the sight because he kept on seeing his cock disappearing inside of her, which was really hot. He tore his eyes away and ran them back up her body until they rested on her face, finding her mouth open and her eyes closed as she continued to roll on top of him. He shifted his legs slightly and grabbed hold of Haley's hips, lifting his back up off the cushions so that he was face to face with her, and slammed her down on his cock. "Is that what you want? Nice and hard?" He murmured as he repeated the action, hearing her moan loudly in response.

Haley gasped as she felt Nathan grip her hips and push her down onto him again. "God, yes!" She moaned, and wrapped her hands around Nathan's neck, digging her nails into his skin. She could feel her second orgasm beginning to build quickly and her breaths were coming much shorter and were feeling much more laboured than usual. She lowered her head to Nathan's neck, resting her head there as she allowed him to take total control, slamming her down onto him repeatedly. "Nathan... Fuck... I'm gonna..." She moaned into his skin, unable to complete her sentence as she felt her orgasm take over her entire body, causing her to shudder and clench around his cock. She felt Nathan continue to pound into her three times before he stopped, groaning her name as he came deep inside of her.

Nathan stilled his movements and collapsed back onto the cushions behind him, bringing Haley down with him so that she was lying on top of his chest. His breathing was fast and erratic; much like hers and his heart was beating wildly, the blood pumping vigorously through his body. He felt her lips press onto his chest as she sighed contentedly, and he ran his hand through her hair before he began to trace idle circles on her back. He wasn't sure why but each time he and Haley came together like this, it somehow felt better than the last. He lay with Haley on top of him, feeling her breathing become steady as his mind tried to decipher what was happening between them and why he was suddenly starting to feel more confused than he'd ever been.

He still hadn't come up with any answers when the last candle flickered dimly and then left him bathed in complete darkness with Haley sleeping peacefully on his chest.

**AN – I'd love to know your thoughts on the chapter...**

**Jealous Nathan is coming up next… which I know is something some of you have been waiting for!**

**A teaser for the next chapter will be available to those of you who want it, just let me know in a review if you do and I'll get it out to you as soon as it's written.**

**Also, I have a new story out… it's called Butterflies and Hurricanes. I'm writing it with Rebecca (love of escapism) so if you fancy it, go and check that out too :o) – the next chapter for that story will be posted tomorrow! **


	13. Chapter 13

**AN – Thank you all so much for your lovely reviews of the last chapter.**

**As per usual I want to say a couple of words to those of you without accounts so I couldn't respond personally… **Angie – **I'm so pleased you're enjoying the story so much and I hope you got the teaser! Hope you enjoy the update! **Ann – **Hope you enjoy jealous Nathan, and the rest of the update! **Violet – **So glad you enjoyed the update, and I hope you got the extended scene. Hope you enjoy this chapter! **Rachel – **Nope, no kiss yet! I'm so pleased you're enjoying the story and I hope you enjoy the update! **Naley051618 – **Hope you enjoy jealous Nathan, and I hope you got the extended scene too – enjoy the update! **Anaita – **So glad you enjoyed the last update, hope you got the teaser and I hope you like this chapter too! **Pufkins – **I'm so pleased you've been enjoying the updates... your email address didn't show up though so I couldn't send you the scene :o( (try putting it in with spaces between it). Hope you enjoy the update!** Ady86 – **Sorry about the wait but I hope you enjoy this chapter! **Sam – **Your email address didn't show up so I couldn't send you the scene (try leaving spaces between it) – hope you enjoy the update! **Lou – **I'm so pleased you're still enjoying the story, hope you enjoy the update and jealous Nathan! **Samantha – **So pleased you're enjoying the development of their relationship. Your email address still didn't show, sorry! Hope you enjoy the update!** Sylvie – **I'm so pleased you're enjoying the story! Hope you enjoy the update and jealous Nathan! **Rachael – **Glad you enjoyed the last chapter and I hope you got the teaser. I hope you like the update! **TripleCrown – **So glad to hear you're enjoying the story – hope you like the update! **Silence Dogood – **Sorry about the wait but I hope you enjoy the update!**

**Thanks as always to Kristen, Rebecca and Alyssa who all read through this before posting.**

**And I also want to say a big thanks go to all the girls who have been absolutely amazing with me over the past couple of weeks (you know who you are)… Especially Rebecca who has kept me sane – love you hun xx**

**Enjoy! :o)**

**Chapter Thirteen**

Haley sat in the busy restaurant, glancing over her menu as she waited for Brooke to arrive. She'd received an e-mail from her first thing on Monday morning asking if she wanted to meet for lunch, and wanting to break up the monotony of her day, she had responded immediately. Brooke had suggested they meet in a rather posh eatery, which seemed to be full of suited and booted, stuffy businessmen entertaining their clients, trying to persuade and influence them all to buy whatever it was they were trying to sell. She didn't really feel as if she fitted in here at all. She felt rather uncomfortable actually, sitting at the table by herself.

She cast her eyes over the menu, trying to decipher what she was in the mood for, but nothing was particularly jumping out at her, especially when she saw the prices, which were utterly ridiculous. The waiter had delivered her bottle of still water and she took a sip out of the glass he had poured it into, keeping her eyes down on the pristine, white tablecloth.

She glanced up when she saw Brooke arriving in her peripheral vision and beamed a smile over at her as she meandered her way through the tables to where she was sitting, instantly feeling a lot more comfortable now that she wasn't going to be sitting at the table all by herself.

Brooke eventually reached the table and let out a long, dramatic sigh as she slid herself into the seat opposite Haley, placing her handbag underneath the lengthy tablecloth. "Sorry I'm a bit late, Haley. The damn meeting I was stuck in went on far longer than I expected it to." She then smiled up at the waiter who was waiting patiently beside the table. "I'll take a large glass of dry white wine, thanks."

"Don't worry about it. I haven't been waiting here too long," Haley responded as she picked up her glass of water again and took another sip, before lowering her eyes back down to the menu because she still hadn't decided what she was having; there was far too much choice and most of it seemed far too heavy for a lunchtime meal.

"Have you been here before?" Brooke asked, opening up her menu purely as a formality because she ate here all the time and knew exactly what she wanted to order.

Haley shook her head, lowering her glass of water back down to the table. "Nope, I've never eaten here before. Nathan took me to the place across the road a while back, but I've never been here," she said once she had swallowed the water she had just drunk.

"Oh, I love that restaurant too! But anyway, the fish is excellent here, as is the steak. I've heard good things about the salads too but I've never had one myself. I'm going to have the monkfish. I always have it, it's so tasty," Brooke advised as she snapped her menu shut, just in time for the waiter to deliver her wine. "Do you know what you want?"

Haley nodded her head as she scanned the menu one last time, picking out a Caesar salad at random as she listened to Brooke order her fish dish. She wasn't a huge fish fan and steak would be far too large for her to eat at lunchtime, so she decided to stick to a light salad.

Once Haley had placed her own order, she engaged in small talk with Brooke, though she could sense almost immediately by the way Brooke was rushing through her answers and jiggling around in her seat that there was an ulterior motive for this lunchtime date with her. She mentally kicked herself, because in all honesty she should have expected it. Brooke's out of character silence at the gym and the bar on Friday should have alerted her to the fact that she was storing it all up, waiting to unleash her questions on her at a later time. She'd been a fool to give her the benefit of the doubt. She knew Brooke far too well and should have known that this was going to happen at some point.

Brooke was having incredible difficulty trying to show some self-restraint. She knew she couldn't just blurt out the questions which had been running through her mind all weekend, but equally she knew she couldn't keep them inside of herself for much longer. She was shifting in her seat as she regarded Haley carefully, trying to pick the prime moment for her to begin her probing. She was actually rather proud that she hadn't just come straight out with it the second she had seen Haley sitting at the table because there had been a moment where she'd thought she was going to blurt it out across the entire restaurant.

Amazingly, the awkward small talk continued until their plates of food arrived. Haley wasn't quite sure how that happened, because she could tell that Brooke was about to burst if she didn't say whatever it was she wanted to soon. But there was no way she was going to just ask her what was bothering her, because she didn't really know what she was going to say, and she was also one hundred percent sure that she wouldn't want to hear it either, if any of Brooke's previous questions which had followed this kind of behaviour were anything to go by.

Brooke conspicuously watched as Haley forked her salad and slid it around her plate absentmindedly. It was clear to her, as she placed some of the delicious fish in her mouth, that something was obviously bothering her. She couldn't help but wonder whether it was what she thought it was. As soon as that thought entered her brain, she couldn't keep it in any longer, and the question just kind of came out of her mouth before she'd had a chance to word it properly in her head. "Are you and Nathan secretly seeing each other?"

Haley's heart rate suddenly increased to astronomical levels. Her fork dropped noisily to her plate, creating this awfully loud crashing sound and she gasped audibly as the grip she had on her glass relaxed completely and it went crashing onto the table, smashing on impact. She immediately grew incredibly panicked, because that hadn't been what she'd expected Brooke to say at all. She'd been expecting more incessant questions about Ryan and whether she liked him or not. She had been completely unprepared for her question and she didn't have a clue as to how she should react, which caused her to panic even more than she was already.

It was true that bluntness had never been something Brooke had a problem with, but she honestly hadn't meant to be so frank and direct with her question. Though now it was out there and she was able to assess Haley's reaction, she was rather pleased that it had come out that way, because Haley's response to her words was certainly interesting, and was definitely giving her an awful lot to think about. She wasn't entirely sure what was going through Haley's mind though, because her head was lowered so she couldn't read the full effect her words were having on her. Was she surprised, angry, guilty, worried? She didn't have a clue because she couldn't damn well see her face.

Haley just wanted to run right out of the restaurant. How the hell could Brooke know? How could she know that something was going on between her and Nathan? She had never wanted the ground to open up and swallow her whole as much as she did in that moment. In her moment of absolute panic, she scrambled hold of anything she could in her head, realising suddenly that Brooke wasn't actually accusing her of anything; she was simply asking her a question. All she had to do was respond and hope that she would be able to do so effectively enough so that her suspicion was dampened. Taking a deep breath to control herself, she burst into laughter and raised her head to meet Brooke's inquisitive gaze. "Are you serious? Me and Nathan? Seeing each other?" she said through what she hoped was convincing laughter. God, she just wanted to cry…

Brooke was slightly confused by the delayed reaction from Haley but she shook her head, and realised that what she had said did sound rather ridiculous, and so she joined in with her laughter. "I'm sorry, Haley. It's just you were looking at each other so intently in the bar last week… I had to ask. But, now that I've said it to you, I've realised how silly it sounds! I mean why the hell would you be seeing Nathan, he's your best friend!"

Haley mentally clogged how Brooke thought she had guessed that something suspicious was going on between her and Nathan and made a note to remind herself to be much more careful in the future when she was out with him and the rest of the gang. "Oh… that was nothing, you know how we are with each other…" she said as she waved her hand around in front of her, wishing she could wave off this conversation in its entirety.

"I know, I don't know why I thought… anyway…" Brooke said as she took a sip of her wine and then placed it back down on the table, smiling as the waiter wiped the broken glass off the table and offered Haley another, fresh glass of water.

Haley gratefully took a large gulp of her water, hoping that it would help to cool her heated cheeks down. She cleared her throat and took another gulp, before she lowered it back to the table and continued to eat her food in silence, grateful for the reprieve.

"So, now that we've established that you are actually single, you'd be up for some dating?" Brooke asked surreptitiously. She placed her knife and fork on her plate and wiped her mouth once she had finished chewing, feeling absolutely stuffed.

Haley suddenly realised that she had now backed herself into a corner. It wasn't like she wanted to date anyone at the moment, not when she was more than satisfied with her arrangement with Nathan, but of course, Brooke didn't know that, and she had adamantly denied that anything was going on with Nathan at all… so what the hell could she say. "I guess," Haley answered noncommittally, really hoping that Brooke wasn't going to come up with some crazy idea.

Brooke smiled triumphantly as she took another sip of her wine. "That's good to know, Haley."

Haley didn't even want to think about what she had up her sleeve, and so she distracted Brooke with a conversation about a pair of shoes she'd seen on the way over here, and luckily for her, the topic of dating didn't come up at all for the rest of the lunch date.

Haley tried Nathan's mobile for the third time in as many minutes, and sighed heavily to herself when, once again, the call rang through to his voicemail. She didn't bother leaving him a message, knowing that he would have the missed call alert on his phone anyway. She returned her phone to her small, black purse and placed the bag down on the chair in her closet. She scowled at her reflection in the mirror as she straightened out her vivid teal coloured dress, before moving her hands up to her hair where she ran her fingers through her wavy, long locks, trying to get her hair to behave itself.

She swept some lip gloss onto her lips and then took a step back from the mirror, running her eyes up and down her reflection once more, before deciding that she'd stalled enough. It was obvious that Nathan wasn't going to come and pick her up as he'd promised earlier, so she was just going to make her way down to the Salsa club on her own and meet the rest of the group there.

She slipped her feet into her new peep-toe heels, which she had purchased earlier in the day, and grabbed her purse from the chair before she walked to the front door and then made her way out of the building. While she was waiting for the elevator, she pulled her phone out of her purse one last time, just to check that she hadn't missed a call or something, and then she noted the time. "Oh God." She immediately gave up waiting for the incredibly slow elevator, which she could see was stuck somewhere between floors two and three, and took the stairs instead.

The last thing she wanted was to be late, especially as tonight they were celebrating Brooke's birthday. Once she had reached the street, she rushed along the sidewalk, feeling incredibly thankful that the club Brooke had chosen to celebrate her birthday in was only a few blocks away from the apartment. She mentally cursed Nathan for making her late, trying not to think about the disgusting shot Brooke and the others would no doubt make her drink as punishment for her tardiness.

Five minutes later, she arrived at the Salsa club only to find that there was a huge queue of people waiting to get in. She joined the end of the line and pulled out her phone, sending a quick text to Brooke to let her know that she was here but that she was stuck outside and was waiting to be let in. She tapped her foot rather impatiently on the ground, rolling her eyes at the group of incredibly drunk women she was stuck behind. Figuring there was no harm in trying, she dialled Nathan's number, but yet again it went straight through to his voicemail just like all the other times she had called. She was getting rather pissed off with him now; why he couldn't let her know that he wasn't able to come tonight made absolutely no sense, and was, in her opinion, rather irritating of him.

Finally, after waiting outside for a good fifteen minutes, Haley was allowed in, only she had to pay an entrance fee because it was now after nine o'clock, which really annoyed her because if they had let her in sooner, she wouldn't have had to pay. Cursing the stupid club, she walked down the steps and found herself among a sea of people dancing away to the Latin beats which were absolutely blaring from the speakers. She moved her way through the crowd, apologising as she cut in front of people and tried to avoid tripping up on all the feet which were moving around so quickly.

She was scanning the room as she moved, trying to spot the gang, only she was moving further and further through the club and not finding them. Turning herself around on the spot once she was right beside the DJ booth, she spotted Peyton's blonde, curly hair in the far corner and she breathed a sigh of relief because she had just been about to give up searching for her friends and head home.

She meandered her way through the crazy dancers and caught Brooke's gaze as she neared the table, seeing her eyes light up and she bounced in her seat and waved crazily at her. Haley continued to move towards their table, and just as she was about to exit the dance floor, she found herself suddenly stuck in front of a group of incredibly muscley men, most of whom had stripped themselves of their shirts. She halted her movements and leaned to the left and to the right but there was no space for her to slip quietly through because two groups of people were blocking her path. Realising that she was going to have to cut right through the middle of the group of men, she took a deep breath and squeezed past two of them, finding herself right in the centre of their circle.

Before she knew what was happening, one of the men had grabbed her free arm from behind and spun her around so that she crashed right into his incredibly hard and very bare chest. Completely startled, Haley's eyes grew incredibly wide and the only thought that ran through her head was 'help', only she didn't have time to verbalise it because the man wrapped one of his arms around her waist and held her right hand up in the air, before he proceeded to begin to perform a full on salsa routine with her, complete with body rolls.

Haley could feel her cheeks heating up as the men in the group hollered and cheered, and when the person who had forced her to dance with him slowed down just a tad, she was able to see that her entire table of friends were clapping and cheering the dude along too. She tried to glare at them but the man had moved them along and she was no longer able to see them, which was just typical. She was going to kill them once she was able to remove herself from the incredibly strong grasp the guy had on her. Why weren't they trying to help her instead of egging this crazy man on?

The man she was aptly naming 'Mr Lunatic' in her head began to pirouette her on the spot, incredibly quickly so it was making Haley feel really dizzy, before he abruptly stopped her and pulled her so that her back was now against his chest. His hand was clasped firmly around her torso and he began to roll his hips, leaving her no choice but to do the same.

Mr Lunatic was still rolling their hips together after a good thirty seconds or so, and he then leaned his head down towards Haley's neck, before he murmured in her ear. "You've got really good rhythm."

Haley didn't know what the hell to say to that, so she just giggled nervously and prayed that the song would end sooner rather than later so that she could get the hell away from him. She really wished that Nathan was here because she knew that all she would have to do would be to throw him a pleading glance and he'd sweep in like her knight in shining armour. Unfortunately, Lucas and Jake weren't accustomed to what her looks meant, and besides, she wasn't sure if they would actually care whether she was enjoying herself or not because from the looks of things, she was providing them with some entertainment for the evening, so they didn't appear to want to intervene anyway.

Thankfully her prayers were answered and the song drew to a crescendo. Mr Lunatic spun her around so that she was facing him once more and wiggled his hips in time to the beat of the music, which then finally stopped. Before he could regain his grasp on her and swing her around again to the new song which had just began to play, Haley tried to wiggle away from him, but he caught her hand and raised it to his lips, placing a kiss on her knuckles, to which she blushed profusely again. She swept her eyes over his form briefly, realising that he was rather good looking in a Mediterranean kind of way; tall, dark and handsome.

"Thanks for the dance, beautiful."

"That's okay," Haley muttered back to him, horrifically embarrassed about how much of a fool she had probably made of herself while dancing with him. She knew that she wasn't exactly what you would call 'born with rhythm' in the slightest, and it was probably a testament to Mr Lunatic's dancing abilities that she hadn't fallen flat on her face. Mr Lunatic finally released his hold on her hand and as soon as she felt that her hand had been freed from his grasp, she quickly moved towards her friends, her cheeks glowing an incredibly deep shade of red from the mortification of it all.

"Way to go, Hales!" Lucas hollered, unable to hold back the laughter as his friend finally made it to their table.

Haley snapped her head around to face Lucas and glared right at him, which was effective enough as she managed to stop him laughing at her. She was absolutely furious that no one had tried to help her, that her so-called friends had just left her in the hands of a complete maniac. "Thanks for nothing," she retorted, and then proceeded to plonk herself down on one of the seats, spinning herself around to face Brooke and Peyton who were still busy giggling at her, so that she could send them a death glare too.

"Oh come on, Haley. Don't look at us like that," Brooke said as she placed her hand over her mouth and took a few deep breaths, trying to stop herself from laughing at her friend. She slid into the empty chair beside Haley and nudged her in the side with her elbow as she peered over her shoulder at the group of men Haley had been dancing with, who were still right beside their table. "It was just a bit of fun, and besides, you have to admit that guy you were grinding with was pretty hot."

Haley turned herself around to face Brooke, her eyebrow raised in accusation. "For the record, Brooke, I was not grinding with him. He was doing the Samba roll or something. I would have thought, what with you being addicted to Dancing With The Stars, that you would know that. And some help would have been nice; you had to have known that I wasn't comfortable with what was going on," Haley returned petulantly, unsure of why she was moping about it so much. It was over and done with now; there was no point in her labouring the point. However, she was still pissed at Nathan for not getting in touch with her, so she was well aware that her anger towards him was seeping into her conversation with Brooke.

"Oh, but it was just so funny!" Brooke said as she erupted into another fit of giggles, unable to help herself as images of Haley swirling around with Mr Muscle once again fluttered into her mind.

"Well, Happy Birthday, Brooke. I'm glad I amused you," Haley returned as she folded her arms across her chest, huffing indignantly to herself. "You know, if Nathan were actually here, he'd have…"

"Er, yeah, actually, where the hell is Nathan?" Brooke interrupted, her eyes scanning the crowded club for any sight of him, though in reality all she could see was a mass of bodies moving to the strong beats of the music.

Haley sighed as she felt the anger once again begin to simmer along her veins at just the thought of Nathan not bothering to let her know what he was up to. "I have no idea, Brooke. He's working, I know that much, but I have no clue as to whether he actually plans on coming here tonight or not," she responded, watching as Brooke's mouth dropped open in shock.

"But it's a Saturday!" Brooke responded incredulously, wondering what in the hell was wrong with Nathan. "And it's my birthday!"

"Come on, Brooke. You should know by now that it doesn't matter what day of the week it is with Nathan and his beloved work. There's always something for him to be getting along with, there's always something to keep him occupied," Haley responded, unable to keep the bitterness from her voice. She still was absolutely horrified with the amount of time he spent working. She had thought that once they'd got past Lily's anniversary, that things would begin to settle down, but he'd been working just as hard, if not harder, this week.

Brooke could practically feel the waves of resentment rolling off Haley's body and she knew that she was obviously not happy at all with Nathan's current working habits. Neither was she, if she was being honest with herself; he worked far too hard and was going to burn out before he'd even hit thirty. But she wasn't in the same position as Haley was, she wasn't nearly as close to Nathan as she was, and so she decided to switch the subject before she said something which would inadvertently make its way back to Nathan and cause him some offence. She twisted herself in her chair and smiled brightly when she saw who was walking towards them, drinks in hand. "Now, Haley, don't kill me…" she said, but before she got any further, she was interrupted by Haley.

"Don't give me a reason to then, Brooke," Haley responded cautiously, various scenarios rapidly running through her head as she wondered what the hell Brooke had gone and done now. She shook her head quickly, wanting to dispel the horror which was currently looping through her brain, because the reality of what she'd done couldn't be any worse than what she was currently imagining, surely?

Before Brooke could answer Haley, the person she had been looking at stopped right behind Haley and leaned over her to place a drink down on the table in front of her. Brooke smiled up at him and gave him a subtle wink, practically bursting with excitement at all the possibilities tonight had to offer. She really couldn't wait to see how Haley reacted.

Haley frowned as she saw a hand holding a glass drop down in front of her eyes, depositing a murky brown drink on the table she was sat next to. She could smell the unfamiliar scent of an unknown aftershave fill her nostrils and she wondered who the hell was standing behind her. She leaned her head back and looked up, only to find Ryan standing over her, smiling down at her. Her eyes widened in surprise for a brief moment, and the thought that she wanted to kill Brooke swiftly entered her mind. But she managed to collect herself quickly and planted a smile on her face. "Ryan! What the hell are you doing here?" she asked as she moved her head back to its natural position, seeing Ryan slip into the chair beside her out of the corner of her eye while she gave Brooke a sly, evil glare, who shrugged her shoulders innocently.

"I bumped into him at the gym yesterday evening and invited him along to help celebrate my birthday," Brooke said as she lifted up the glass Ryan had just handed her. "And so far, he is being absolutely excellent in keeping me well watered."

Haley glanced at Brooke and rolled her eyes at her silly explanation. To say that she was rather sceptical about her friend's intentions would be a complete understatement. However, she simply decided that she may as well enjoy herself now that she was here. So she lifted up her glass which Ryan had placed on the table in front of her and turned around to face him. "Thanks for the drink," she said and then took a sip, nodding her head in approval because he had ordered her exactly what she would have got herself, a vodka and diet coke. "How did you know this was my drink?"

"Someone may have told me what to get you," Ryan said sheepishly as he took a sip from the bottle of beer he had bought himself. "And you're welcome."

Haley moved her eyes away from Ryan and continued to sip her drink as they settled into a rather uncomfortable silence. She wasn't quite sure what she made of him being here. She almost felt like he was invading her personal space, which was strange because all he was doing was having a drink with her friends. But that was the point, these were her friends he was now hanging out with, and as she turned around in her chair slightly and watched him begin to chat to Jake and Lucas, she couldn't help but feel like something felt rather off about it all. It should have been Nathan who was sat in the chair next to her, talking to his brother and one of his closest friends, not her gym training buddy.

Haley wasn't sure how much time had passed, but the next thing she knew, Ryan was waving yet another drink in her face. She swivelled herself around in her chair and raised her eyebrow at him. "Are you trying to get me drunk, Ryan?" she asked, unsure of just how many vodka and diet cokes she'd had so far this evening, which had to be a bad sign.

"No, of course not," Ryan responded, unable to hide the slight smirk which pulled at the corners of his mouth. "Why would you think such a thing?"

"Well, as far as I'm aware, you're the only person who's been feeding me drinks all night. That's why I would think such a thing, Ryan," Haley responded, taking a sip of her drink and then placing it back down on the table next to her. She moved her eyes out to the dance floor and giggled when she saw Jake and Peyton getting all caught up with each other as they tried to move to the random rhythm of the music. It really was a rather amusing sight, Jake, like herself, wasn't a natural dancer by any means.

"Well, I have to say I'm rather surprised you noticed, you seem to have been ignoring me all night," Ryan said, and then raised his eyebrow as Haley shot him a glance as if to say that she hadn't been keeping herself out of his way.

"Ryan! I haven't been ignoring you at all, you've just been… I don't know… talking to Luke and Jake all night," Haley said, waving her arms in the general direction of where Ryan and the boys had been huddled together discussing manly things like cars and basketball and a whole load of other stuff which she had very little interest in.

"I so have not been talking to Luke and Jake all night. You're the one who's had her back to me all night, nattering away to Brooke about clothes and shopping and all that girly stuff," Ryan returned, taking another sip of his beer once he had finished talking.

Haley scowled at Ryan, partly because he was right. She had been so desperate not to acknowledge the fact that he was here, that she had even engaged Brooke in conversation about shopping and clothes, the one thing she knew would get her talking for ages. And it had worked like a charm. All she'd had to do was nod her head and add the odd 'uh huh' in here and there, which meant that she had been able to spent the time actually thinking about why she was suddenly feeling so hostile towards Ryan and the fact that he was here socialising with her friends. The only thing she'd come up with was that she was still angry at Nathan for not calling her, but she knew that wasn't all it was, it simply couldn't be. She just couldn't work out the rest, which was incredibly frustrating.

"You see, you know I'm right, that's why you haven't said anything," Ryan said triumphantly after Haley had been silent for a few minutes. He then leaned over and placed his beer bottle back down on the table, before he stared Haley right in the eyes. "So I think you owe me, don't you?"

Haley bit down on her lip as she glanced down at the floor, suddenly feeling a little bit embarrassed by her childlike behaviour. Why she was so protective about her friends, she didn't know, and it wasn't like some horrible impostor was trying to wrangle their way into the group, it was only Ryan. And she liked Ryan, she reminded herself, surprised that she had somehow seemed to forget that fact amongst all the anger and hostility she had been feeling towards Nathan that evening. She glanced sheepishly up from the floor and found that Ryan's gaze was still trained right on her, only he had a mischievous glint in his eye, which she knew meant trouble. "Oh, God, what have you got up your sleeve?" she asked, a warning tone evident in her voice.

Ryan flashed Haley a grin and then licked his lips. "Me? Absolutely nothing. Why?" he asked, still smirking at her.

"You have that playful glint in your eye, Ryan, so I know you're up to something," Haley responded, and raised her eyebrow at him in the hope that it would somehow make him confess his plans to her.

"Well, I was thinking…" Ryan started, but then was interrupted by Haley before he could go any further.

"Uh oh, that's always dangerous!" Haley interrupted, throwing Ryan a playful grin when he raised his eyebrow at her.

"You'd better watch it, Haley, or I'll make you do two hundred sit ups instead of running tomorrow," Ryan threatened, the teasing tone of his voice letting Haley know that he wasn't being completely serious. Though watching Haley do sit ups would be rather fun…

"You wouldn't dare!" Haley said, completely outraged by his threat. She absolutely despised doing sit ups, and then she suddenly realised that she didn't have to listen to what he had to say anyway. "Besides, I'd like to see you try to 'make me' do sit ups."

"Are you challenging me on this, Haley?" Ryan asked, smirking slightly at her.

Suddenly, Haley realised that Ryan was much stronger than her, and she decided that she didn't want to challenge him in any way, shape or form. "No," she responded in a small voice, moving her eyes away from him and resting them on her glass, which was still in her hands, placed in her lap.

Ryan smiled. "Good. And anyway, back to what I was originally talking about, I think, given that you've been ignoring me all night, that you owe me something," he said, and then stood up from his chair before he held out his hand, palm open so that he could help Haley up from her own chair.

Haley didn't know why the hell he wanted her to stand up, and against her better judgement, she placed her hand in his and allowed him to lift her up so that she was standing upright. He took her drink out of her other hand and placed it down on the table, before throwing her a sly smirk. However, before she had the chance to question him any further about what he was up to, she found that he was dragging her towards the dance floor, which in turn caused a look of absolute horror to spread right across her face. "Ryan, what the hell are you doing?" she shouted at him in a rather shrieky voice, trying to tug on his arm to stop him from moving them closer to where she least wanted to be.

Ryan didn't stop his movement until they were tucked away right in the middle of the dance floor, despite being able to feel Haley tugging on his arm as he led the way. Satisfied that he had found them a spot with enough room, he halted and turned around to face her, having to work incredibly hard to stifle the laugh he could feel brewing inside of him when he saw the look of absolute distain on her face.

"Seriously, Ryan, what the hell do you think you're doing?" Haley asked once they had finally stopped moving, only now she was trapped in the middle of the dance floor. She cautiously scanned her eyes around the area she found herself standing in, trying to look for an escape route, only there were so many people crowded into the space and they were moving so quickly any spot she did find was quickly covered up by another set of bodies.

"Well, I was thinking that we could have a few dances together, seeing as this is a Salsa club and all," Ryan returned, laughing as he saw Haley's mouth drop open.

Haley didn't know what the hell he was thinking but there was no way that she was going to do any more dancing tonight. The Mr Lunatic experience had horrified her enough and all she wanted to do was enjoy a few drinks, forget about Nathan and then go home to bed. "I don't think so, Ryan," she responded, folding her arms across her chest once she had managed to shake her hand free from Ryan's grasp.

"Why not?" Ryan asked, before he reached one of his hands out and wrapped it around one of Haley's arms, trying to coax it out so that he could stop her from crossing them over her chest.

"Because, Ryan, I can't dance," Haley answered, squeezing her arms to her chest when she felt Ryan try to free them, presumably so he could actually start to try to get her to move, which wasn't happening, not in a million years.

Ryan couldn't help but shake his head at her. "You're lying, Haley," he said as he continued to try to release at least one of her arms, which would in turn make it a hell of a lot easier for him to get the other one free.

"No I am not, Ryan. I mean it. I can't dance, especially not like this," she said and the waved her arm around her, her eyes momentarily moving around the room, taking in the very talented dancers who worked the floor really well, before she quickly folded her arms back across her chest. She, on the other hand, would cause a catastrophe. She'd trip up on her feet, causing a whole host of other dancers to then trip over her body until she was trampled to her death. Dancing with Mr Lunatic, who knew what he was doing, was one thing, but dancing with Ryan, who would obviously not have a clue about Salsa dancing, would just be an absolute disaster. She really didn't want to even take the risk.

"What do you mean, you can't dance? What were you doing with that guy earlier on then, Haley? Because to me, you certainly looked like you were dancing," Ryan challenged, and then smiled when he saw Haley's eyes grow wide.

"Don't tell me you saw that horrific display too?" Haley whined. She felt like stamping her foot on the ground in frustration. Wasn't it bad enough that most of her closest friends had seen her make an absolute fool out of herself? Why did her gym trainer have to see it too? And she knew what Ryan was like, he'd never let her live it down, he'd be teasing her about that until the end of time, she was absolutely certain.

"Oh yes, I did see it. And what do you mean 'horrific', you were really good. Of course, that dude you were dancing with is no match for my incredible dancing skill, but he was pretty decent," Ryan said, puffing out his chest a little as he threw his gaze back over to that corner of the dance floor where Haley had danced with that man, the flash of jealousy quickly coursing through his veins when he thought about how lucky that guy had been, to have been able to move with, and of course touch Haley like that.

Haley couldn't help but scoff at his incredulous statement. "You? Dancing? Come off it, Ryan. That guy was like amazing! And you actually think that you're better than him?" she said, giggling to herself as an image of Ryan doing a Salsa roll fluttered into her mind. She just couldn't imagine it at all.

Ryan tugged a little harder on Haley's arm and finally managed to free it. He quickly wrapped his other arm around her waist, pulling her into his chest. He raised his eyebrow at Haley, who was now literally right in his face, and he smirked at her as he began to slowly move them both. "I know I'm better than him, and I'm going to show you that it's true," he said, and then began to move them both around the dance floor at a much quicker pace, finally moving in time with the fast music.

Haley tensed up completely, her eyes scanning the space around her quickly because she didn't want to knock into anybody and cause anyone any harm due to her dancing deficiencies. She moved her arm around to literally cling onto Ryan's back and when he forced her to spin out of his grasp, she clenched her eyes shut when she saw herself spiralling towards another couple. However, before she felt any impact, Ryan was twirling her back towards him, and then he stopped her when her back was against his chest, his hand splayed across her stomach, pressing her tightly against him. She breathed a sigh of relief as she felt his hips move, causing hers to move too, now that she was back in the safety of his grasp. She opened her eyes and saw that, thankfully, there were no casualties on the dance floor, that she'd survived Ryan's first little display of, what she hated to admit, rather good dancing skills, without creating a scene.

"You need to relax, Haley," Ryan muttered in her ear as he relaxed his grip on her stomach and then spun her around so that they were face to face again. He chuckled as he wrapped his arm around her back once more, seeing that her eyes were clenched shut. "And it usually helps if you keep your eyes open."

Haley opened her eyes and glared at Ryan for a second, but then he started moving them again to the music, and he had this huge smile on his face which made it rather impossible for her to stay mad at him. And then, before she knew what was happening, she realised that she was smiling too. What was it about his smile, why was it so infectious? And why the hell could she never stay mad at him for longer than a couple of minutes at a time?

"That's much better," Ryan said, pleased that she had actually opened her eyes and was now smiling instead of scowling at him. He laughed as he lifted their joined hands and allowed Haley to spin around a few times, before he wrapped his arm back around her waist and began to move them around the floor.

Haley hated to admit it, but firstly, once she got over her incredible self-consciousness, she realised that she was rather enjoying herself. And secondly, Ryan was actually a very good dancer. In fact, he was more than very good, he was actually really, really good. He made dancing seem easy, like it was something that she could do effortlessly, which was most certainly saying something. She looked up at him, smiling yet again as she took in his expression. "So are you going to reveal where you picked up these dancing skills?" she asked as she followed his lead, pleased that she didn't have to worry about crashing into anybody because Ryan most definitely had everything under control.

"Ah, so you do admit that I possess dancing skill then?" Ryan asked cheekily.

Haley rolled her eyes at him. She wanted to argue with him but she realised that there was little point in her doing so. "Yes, Ryan. It's clear you can dance. I'm sorry I doubted you, okay?" she said, sighing to herself when she saw the smirk spread across his face.

Ryan chuckled to himself, because he knew, by now, how much Haley hated to say that she had been wrong. He was rather surprised that she hadn't put up a bit of a fight before he finally got her to admit that she hadn't been correct in her assumptions about him. Obviously his dancing talent had impressed her. He didn't say anything back to her, he just revelled in the feeling of moving with Haley like this, of having his arm wrapped around her, of being this close to her.

Haley yelped a little in surprise when Ryan moved his hands so that they were both wrapped around her waist and then began to twirl them really quickly in a circle, until she was so dizzy, she threw her head back and clung on to his neck for dear life, though she was laughing like crazy. Who knew dancing could be so fun?

The song they were dancing to ended, and so Ryan stopped them from moving in a circle, and he felt Haley cling onto him once they were standing still. She was so close to him it would have been so easy for him to move his head just a fraction, so that their lips collided. However, Haley was still laughing hysterically, and although he wanted to kiss her so very badly, he knew that now was not the time. Instead he breathed in deeply, her sensuous perfume washing over him and making him want her even more. It was maddening, how she affected him, and judging by the way she was still laughing and clinging onto him, she had absolutely no clue about what she did to him.

A new song began to blare through the speakers and once Haley had managed to get her dizziness under control, she relaxed her grip on Ryan's neck and managed to calm her laughing down significantly, though she was still giggling a little.

Ryan felt Haley's hands loosen around his neck and that seemed to jolt him out of his Haley-induced haze. The new song began to play and he decided to deflect his thoughts by fooling around. Dropping his hands from her waist, he took a step back and then began to shimmy his shoulders towards Haley, smiling broadly as he did so.

"Oh my gosh!" Haley shrieked as Ryan began to circle around her, his shoulders moving in time with the music, causing another round of laughter to erupt from within her. "You know what, I take back what I said about your dancing skills. You clearly possess no skill at all!" she circled around with him as he moved around her, and she shook her head at him while she continued to giggle at him. "You're such a goofball!"

Despite it being a Saturday night, Nathan found himself seated in his boss' office, literally drowning in paper. He was frantically working with his manager, making loads of last minute changes to a presentation they had to give to a very important client first thing on Monday morning, this being the fifth time they were working their way through the so-called final draft. They had both spent the entire day in the office, together with other subordinates who had left a long time ago to get on with their weekends. He leafed his way through the pages he had in his hands, trying to find the slide he wanted to discuss with his boss.

"Shouldn't we move some of the information from this part of the presentation onto this slide? It sits better with what we're trying to discuss here, don't you think?" Nathan asked as he placed the two pieces of paper in front of his boss, waiting to hear his opinion. He watched as his manager rolled his eyes at him, before staring pointedly at his watch.

"It's ten thirty, Nathan," Gary responded, raising his eyebrows in question at his employee. Nathan was absolutely fantastic at his job, there was no doubting that fact… but the problem with him was that he never knew when to stop.

Nathan frowned at Gary, wondering what the time had to do with what he had just asked. He glanced around quickly at the clock in his office and saw that it was, in fact ten thirty at night. Time had most definitely passed extremely quickly, but they still had a few bits to get finalised. He returned his gaze to his boss and saw that he was waiting expectantly for him to say something. What, he didn't know. "I'm aware of the time, Gary," Nathan responded cautiously, pondering whether he was asking him a trick question or something.

"And it's a Saturday…" Gary continued, once Nathan had given his response to his statement.

"Again, I know what day of the week it is," Nathan said in a highly confused tone. Why were they discussing all this random stuff when decisions on the presentation they were due to give in roughly thirty-six hours were needed, he didn't know. So he just continued to speak about the presentation, after all, that was why they were locked away in his office, wasn't it? "So, as I was saying, I think this section should be moved to the slides where we talk about market share…"

"Okay, Nathan, I'm going to stop you right there," Gary interrupted before Nathan could spout on about even more changes to a presentation he was pretty sure was more than okay to present to the clients. "What are you doing?"

The frown on Nathan's face grew even deeper as he grew more confused. What the hell was Gary going on about now? Had he actually gone senile or something? Was he having some kind of mental breakdown? He really hoped he wasn't because he didn't know how the hell he was supposed to react in that kind of situation. "We're going through the presentation we're going to do on Monday morning," he said, incredibly slowly so that he gave Gary time to process the words which were coming out of his mouth.

"I know that, Nathan. I mean, what are you doing?" Gary asked, shaking his head at his incredibly hard working executive.

Wasn't it obvious what he was doing? The confusion was growing and Nathan simply decided to give up. "I haven't got a clue what you're going on about, Gary," he responded, placing the papers he was holding down on the desk in front of him because it was clear that they weren't going to be discussing them anytime soon.

"Don't you have somewhere to be?" Gary asked, thinking it absolutely preposterous that a young man like Nathan was sat in an office on a Saturday night when he should really be out enjoying himself. No wonder he was still single. He'd find himself married to his job in a few years if he wasn't careful. He did ponder whether he and his career were engaged to be wed at the moment anyway, what with all the hours he put in. What he needed was a wife, a woman who nagged him to come home, much like his own was doing at the moment. His mobile had been vibrating constantly in his pocket for the last six hours or so.

"No, I've not really got anywhere to be. I mean it's my brother's girlfriend's birthday today and we were supposed to be going out for that, but we had this presentation to do…" Nathan trailed off as he watched his boss' expression change from bewilderment to what he thought was anger, though that made no sense whatsoever. What boss would get furious about his employee staying to work instead of going out and getting drunk?

Gary couldn't believe what he was hearing. "It's your brother's girlfriend's birthday? Today?"

"Yes…" Nathan responded cautiously, wondering why his boss sounded so exasperated with him.

"So what the hell are you still doing here, in the office, Nathan?" Gary practically shouted at Nathan. "I mean for Christ's sake. We've been here for a good twelve hours now, and I know you don't have anyone to go home to, but I have a wife who has been calling incessantly for the last six hours, wondering where the hell I am. Come on, put all this crap away. In fact, just leave it where it is," he said, and then stood up, pushing his chair away from his desk before he grabbed his coat from behind the door.

"But what about the presentation?" Nathan asked, completely perplexed by his boss' sudden outburst. He was usually so calm and collected, and this seemed to have come from absolutely nowhere.

"The presentation is fine, Nathan. Just leave it as it is. The client will love it, trust me. Now come on, I want you to get the hell out of here and go and celebrate your brother's girlfriend's birthday," Gary said, holding the door open. He was going to escort Nathan out of the building himself, just so he knew that he really had left for the night.

Nathan lifted himself up off the chair and began to tidy the piles of paper which were spread sporadically around Gary's desk. He hated mess, and he didn't want his boss to have to deal with piles of unorganised paper first thing on Monday morning.

"Leave the damn papers alone, Nathan," Gary said, a huge sigh escaping from his mouth as he shook his head once again, wondering how someone could actually allow themselves to get this dedicated to their work.

"Alright," Nathan responded, holding his hands up in mock surrender as he turned himself around, facing his boss who was stood with the door to his office open, obviously waiting for him to make a move and leave. He frowned, because he really wanted to get the presentation perfect and he hated having things hanging over him, he'd much rather finish it now. However, his boss seemed to have other ideas, and so he did as he was told, and grabbed his jacket from behind the chair and walked out of the office.

"And don't you dare come in here tomorrow, Nathan. I mean it; I don't even want you to think about work. You need a damn rest."

Ten minutes later, Nathan found himself sitting in a cab, trying to get through to Haley, given that she'd called him more than a couple of times during the day, and because he couldn't remember where Brooke was having her birthday party. He'd completely forgotten that he had put his phone on silent when he walked into the office this morning, and he had been so absorbed with work that he hadn't even thought to check it to see if anyone had been trying to call or text him. After her phone rang through to voicemail for the fourth time, he gave up and scrolled through his texts, trying to find the one from Brooke which would tell him where he needed to go. He knew it was somewhere vaguely near home, but he couldn't for the life of him remember the name of the damn place. Why she couldn't have just celebrated her birthday last night in the bar was completely beyond him.

He finally found the text and told the cab driver the name of the club, groaning when he read that she had chosen a Salsa club for the venue. He couldn't think of anything worse, of any place he'd want to be less, after having spent the entire day in the office. But he knew if he went home without showing his face, both Haley and Brooke would be incredibly angry with him, and he didn't have the energy to face both of them tomorrow.

The cab pulled up outside the venue and he handed the driver some bills, before stepping out onto the sidewalk. He walked over to the club, pleased to find that there was no line because if there was he would have probably just decided to leave it and head home. Once he had paid his entrance fee, he opened the door and heard the booming beats of the Latin music, which immediately caused him to have a headache. He wondered how long he'd have to stay here, how long was polite enough so that he'd shown his face. He figured half an hour would be okay, Brooke couldn't moan about that, especially if he bought her a couple of drinks.

He walked inside and immediately headed for the bar, having to wait ages for the barman to serve everyone else before he finally got to him. Ordering himself a beer, he turned himself around briefly, trying to spot where Jake and Luke were. He knew that they'd both be sat at a table somewhere. However, he wasn't able to see them from where he was standing, and so once he had paid for his beer, he began walking around the edge of the dance floor where the tables were.

He found Luke pretty quickly; he was sat at a table cluttered with empty glasses, chatting to Peyton. But Jake, Brooke, and most importantly Haley were nowhere to be found. He did a brief roam of the room trying to spot her but the place was so packed he knew he didn't stand a chance of finding her.

"Hey, so you finally made it, Nate," Lucas said as he lifted his eyes over Peyton's head and found his brother standing by the table, looking around, presumably trying to find Haley.

"Yeah, I did, got caught up at work," Nathan responded, offering up no more of an excuse. He wouldn't need to anyway. Besides, any attempt at doing so would only end up with him being teased. He decided to change the subject before any of that could begin. "So where's Haley?"

Lucas rolled his eyes, knowing that Haley would obviously have been his brother's first concern. He eyed Nathan cautiously, wondering how he was going to react to the fact that she seemed to have a new admirer. However, Peyton managed to get there before him, spilling the beans on just where Haley was.

"She's dancing with this guy Brooke invited, he's a trainer or something at the gym they go to," Peyton said, spinning around in her chair, giggling when she caught sight of Brooke and Jake struggling to keep in time to the music. She wasn't sure exactly what they were doing, but it would be an offence to call it dancing. It was more like moving, or wiggling.

Peyton's words immediately caught Nathan's attention. "She's what?" he asked in a slightly alarmed and panicked tone. "Is she okay?" He knew how much she hated dancing, and so he placed his drink down on the table, shooting his brother a dirty look, as if to say why the hell weren't you looking out for her, before he scanned the crowd frantically, trying desperately hard to find her so that he could save her.

"Oh, I think she's more than okay," Peyton said, moving her eyes away from Jake and Brooke and rested them on Haley and Ryan, who were still dancing together, and looking like they were having a riot together. She smiled as her gaze lingered on them, pleased to see Haley having a good time, and Ryan seemed really nice too. It was painfully obvious that he liked her, she really hoped Haley would cotton onto that fact soon, before he lost interest and moved on to someone else.

Nathan was surprised at Peyton's words, so he sat down in the chair next to hers, picking his drink up off the table once he was sat comfortably on the chair. "But she hates dancing," he said, clarifying the point again because it seemed that both Peyton and Lucas had forgotten this fact about their friend.

"Maybe so, but I don't think she minds it when she's dancing with Ryan," Peyton said, her eyes still on the both of them. Ryan had just dropped Haley rather dramatically, so low that she was sure her hair had touched the ground. She couldn't help the smile that spread over her face as she continued to watch them move around the floor.

"Where the hell is she?" Nathan asked, trying to follow Peyton's eye line but people kept on getting in his way, so he couldn't see her. He was getting more and more panicked now, because Peyton and Luke couldn't be right, she couldn't be enjoying herself. Dancing in public, especially to something like this, was an activity she absolutely loathed.

"She's right there," Peyton responded, pointing through the bodies of people to where Haley and Ryan were currently dancing.

Nathan followed Peyton's finger into the crowd and he then slumped back in his chair when his gaze finally rested on Haley. Only his eyes weren't lingering on her body, they were burning holes in the dude's hands which were resting far too low on her back; he could have sworn that they were actually on her ass. He wanted to run over there and slap his hand away, tell him to keep his hands to himself, to keep his hands off her. Only he couldn't actually move because he felt like he'd been punched in the stomach. He felt this twisting pain in his gut which wrenched its way along his veins, making him feel physically sick.

He had to practically force his eyes to move away from the dude's hand and he quickly moved them to Haley's face, praying that he'd find some distress there or something, just so that he could go and punch this guy to the floor, and then maybe kick him a little too for good measure. However, it was what he saw on her face which almost made him fall to the floor. She was smiling. No, she wasn't just smiling, she was actually laughing, looking like she was enjoying herself, like she didn't have a care in the world.

It was that fact which sent this rush of anger coursing ferociously through his veins. How dare she let someone else touch her like that. How dare she move her hips like that, let someone else's hands run down her back, pull her close so that her chest was touching theirs. How dare she do all of that, when he was sitting here, not able to do anything but watch. What the hell did she think she was doing?

The grip he had on his beer bottle increased exponentially, so much so that his hand began to shake uncontrollably with the fury he felt bubbling away inside of him. His teeth were gritting together and his glare was turning into a scowl. He could feel himself quickly losing his head, wanting to tear them both away from each other, to scream that no one but he got to touch her like that.

Lucas was extremely interested in his brother's reaction. He eyed him carefully, seeing the scowl on his face and the way his hands were clenching into fists, one wrapped very tightly around his beer bottle. He could see him beginning to shake and that was when he knew he needed to say something, he knew he needed to calm him down before he lost the little control he had on the situation. "Have you seen Brooke and Jake, they look like a right pair of idiots," he said, hoping that he'd be able to divert Nathan's attention away from Haley and Ryan.

Nathan could hear Lucas talking to him, but his words weren't registering in his head. He couldn't seem to get his brain to process anything other than the need to thump this guy until he was unable to stand. He couldn't see clearly, the room around him turning into a big haze which made it difficult for him to focus, but Haley and this prick were still there, bright as fucking day. He watched as he twisted her around and rested his hand on her stomach, and he swore he saw Haley close her eyes and lean her head on his shoulder, sighing like she was enjoying the sensation of having this absolute idiot rub up against her. He watched in absolute horror as this guy's hand trailed down her side and then along her thigh, before he began moving it back up again. He flicked his eyes up from the dude's hand and watched the smile flutter over Haley's face. And that was what tipped him right over the edge.

He felt like he couldn't breathe, like there was this rope pulling constrictively against his chest, causing his lungs to contract and making it incredibly difficult for enough air to get inside of him. With an incredibly unsteady hand, he moved his beer bottle down to the table, not being able to drink another drop because he literally felt like he was going to heave at any given second. The music was still pounding away, causing his head to hurt. He could feel it throbbing in time to the beat, and his eyes just would not move away from the entangled vision of Haley and this guy, no matter how hard he tried to look elsewhere. He realised in that instant that he needed to get himself out of there, he simply couldn't spend another second watching this, watching Haley act like she was actually enjoying herself.

Putting his shaking hands on the table in front of him, he used the surface for leverage and forced himself to get up from his seat. He saw his brother shoot him a warning glare, like he expected him to do something stupid, and that look caused this wave of irrational anger to course through his entire body. "Go on then, Luke. Let's hear your words of wisdom," Nathan said angrily, knowing that his brother was just itching to say whatever it was he wanted to.

Lucas sighed heavily at his brother's aggressive tone and he could see that he was about to go completely ballistic. He didn't want his brother to turn on him, but equally, he didn't want Nathan to do something foolish that he may later regret once he was able to see things with a clearer head. "Just… please think carefully before you go crazy, okay?" he said, hoping that those few words would help sober him up a little, help him see through the possessive haze which he knew would currently be residing in his head.

Nathan scoffed to himself, shaking his head at his brother. Why was it that he always thought the worst of him? "Thanks for the great advice, Luke," he responded sarcastically, and then moved his eyes back towards Haley, the anger at being mini-lectured by Lucas adding to the fury which was boiling away just underneath his skin. He watched for another couple of seconds, leaning on his hands which were still placed on the table as she laughed and danced with this gym guy. He was frozen in place, unable to move, save for blinking and breathing, which he almost forgot to do amongst all the chaos which was milling around in his mind. It was a vicious circle because the more time he spent looking at her and what she was doing, the angrier he became, but his eyes just didn't want to move away.

Lucas could see that Nathan was winding himself up more and more, and he realised that he should probably intervene before his brother did something really stupid. He stood up and placed his hand on Nathan's shoulder, applying just enough pressure for him to know that he was being serious and that he wanted him to calm down. "Stop acting so jealous," he muttered in his brother's ear, and tried to increase the pressure of his hand so that Nathan would sit back down in his chair, instead of looming over the table like a crazed man who looked like he was about to attack somebody, which he wouldn't say was a complete impossibility.

Nathan was aware that Lucas was talking to him but his voice sounded incredibly fuzzy and his brain wasn't processing the words. Instead, his entire body was focused on what Haley was doing, on the way her hands were wrapped tightly around this guy's neck and the way her head was thrown back as she spun around and around incredibly quickly. Suddenly, an image of Haley in the throes of passion, right on the cusp of an orgasm flashed through his mind, probably because while she was on top she threw her head back in much the same way, and this heated rush of absolute fury exploded inside of him. His hands, which were resting on the table, clenched into fists and his whole body trembled with rage. Shrugging the weight he could feel off his shoulder, he stomped towards Haley before he could even think twice about what he was doing.

Lucas sighed heavily as he watched Nathan march over towards Haley, rubbing his hand over his forehead as he wondered whether he should try to stop him. However, he decided against that as he didn't particularly want to be on the receiving end of his fist, which was probably what would happen if he were to run after him. "Nathan!" he called out instead, hoping that his brother would turn around to at least acknowledge him. Unfortunately, his words were wasted.

Nathan pushed his way through the crowd, bumping his shoulder into anyone who stood in his way, his eyes only choosing to focus on the target of Haley and this absolute prick she was tangled up with. As he watched this guy's hands run far too close to her ass, this possessive wave washed over him and he sped up his movements, needing to get to her quicker. His mind was completely jumbled and he had no idea what he was going to do once he eventually got to her. Was he going to grab a hold of her and pull her away from him? Was he going to punch this jerk in the face? He honestly didn't have a clue; all he knew was that he needed to get to her… fast.

Haley laughed uncontrollably as Ryan continued to twirl them around on the dance floor. She was sure she sounded like a three year old girl, but it turned out this whole dancing malarkey was actually rather fun, and she was, surprisingly, really enjoying herself. She yelped as Ryan dipped her so that she was nearly on the floor, her hands gripping around his neck tightly to make sure that she wouldn't fall, before he lifted her back up again so that she was upright. Her eyes connected with his and she watched as he looked at her intently, suddenly feeling rather flushed, and she bit down on her lip, glancing down at the floor briefly before she lifted her eyes back up to meet his.

Nathan felt sick. He frowned as he watched Haley and this guy look at each other really intensely, and he suddenly felt ridiculously jealous. All these completely irrational thoughts raced through his brain, causing his confusion to only deepen, but he couldn't devote any one of his thoughts to wondering why he was feeling this way, because his entire brain was completely overloaded. How dare she look at this guy like that while they were sleeping together every week. How dare she allow him to touch her like she was, when he was touching her each week. And how dare she do this in front of him, when they were being intimate with each other every single week, without fail. It was like she wanted to send him a message or something, and he received it, loud and clear. However, even the thought that their arrangement was just that, an arrangement, couldn't calm him down because he didn't, in that moment, want to believe that was all it was. He took a deep, shaky breath as his entire body trembled with jealousy and anger once he was beside them. Then he leaned forward so that he could talk quietly in her ear. "I hope you're happy with yourself. I'm going home. I won't bother waiting up for you."

As soon as Haley heard Nathan's voice in her ear, she loosened her grip on Ryan's neck and turned herself around so that she could face him, completely surprised that he had actually made it here. Her previous anger at him for not getting in touch with her had been forgotten, the fun she'd been having dancing causing it to dissipate from her brain entirely. But when she actually processed the words he had just spoken, and looked at his face which was contorted in complete disgust, she instantly wondered what the hell was going on, finding herself completely confused as to why he was speaking to her in such a venomous tone. However, before she could ask him what the hell his problem was, he turned on his heel and began to march towards the exit of the club.

Ryan watched as this unknown man whispered something in Haley's ear and then sauntered off towards the exit of the club, leaving her in a complete panic, interrupting what had been one of the most amazing nights of his life. He wanted to ask her who the hell that person was. He wanted to ask her what the hell he had said to her, and he wanted to ask her if she wanted him to go and throw a punch at him or something. But before he could even open his mouth to ask her any one of these things, Haley had wiggled herself out of his grasp and was muttering incoherently and distractedly to him.

Completely and utterly flabbergasted by what Nathan had said to her, Haley made sure that she kept an eye on him as she wrestled herself out of Ryan's grasp. "I'm sorry, Ryan, I have to go," she murmured, doing her best to keep her anger in check. She flashed him a brief, apologetic glance, before she left him standing in the middle of the dance floor, detouring to the table so she could pick up her purse and then followed Nathan out of the club, squeezing her way through the throngs of people as she did so, doing her best not to lose him in the sea of people moving around and dancing to the music.

Nathan took a large gulp of air as soon as he found himself out on the street, pleased that he wasn't stuck in that suffocating room any longer. He immediately turned to his right and began walking back home to the apartment, his body still shaking with the rage which was searing its way through his veins. He felt ridiculously hot, the cold wind swirling around him not being cold enough to cool his heated skin. Images of Haley kept swarming their way into his mind, making it impossible for him to concentrate, especially when he didn't want to be thinking of her at all.

Haley raced her way out of the club and turned to the right, seeing Nathan walking extremely quickly towards home. She began to walk after him, cursing her shoes which were actually killing her feet. Deciding that she'd be much better off if she took them off her feet, she stopped for a brief moment and slid them off, clutching them in her hands as she ran after him. "Nathan!" she shouted angrily at him once she was a little bit closer to him, hoping that he would slow down and at least give her the opportunity to catch him up, however, he completely ignored her and, from what she could tell, actually upped the pace of his movement.

Nathan could hear Haley running after him and so he upped the pace of his footsteps, turning the corner which led to the apartment, hoping that he'd be able to get home before Haley managed to catch up with him. He wasn't sure why he was so desperate to get home, because it wasn't like he could lock Haley out of their apartment, but at least he would be able to horde himself away in his bedroom. He was still absolutely seething, and for what he didn't quite know. The last ten minutes or so, he'd been trying to reason with himself, trying to tell himself that Haley was free to do whatever she wanted, that their arrangement didn't mean that they were together in any way, shape or form. But for some obscure reason, that thought didn't calm him down in the slightest, because he didn't want another man to ever touch her again. Completely irrationally, he didn't want anyone to ever touch what he viewed as being his.

Haley watched as Nathan entered the apartment building, slamming the door shut behind him, so she quickly fished out her key so that she could enter too. She pulled the door open and could hear Nathan stomping up the stairs so she raced after him, glancing up the middle of the stairwell and seeing that he was already on the second floor. She upped her pace, but it seemed he had too much of a lead on her, because when she finally reached the sixth floor, Nathan was already halfway along the corridor towards their front door. She didn't even have time to realize that she'd managed to run up the stairs without getting out of breath because all she could think about was confronting Nathan about what he said to her, and the fact that he had just stomped off like a petulant little boy.

Nathan was trembling so much that he couldn't even get his key in the door, which only served to increase the anger which was searing through his body. He could hear Haley getting closer and closer to him and he cried out in frustration, banging on the door loudly with his fist, before taking a deep breath and attempting, successfully this time to put the key in the lock. He turned it quickly and opened the door, attempting to slam it shut, but he never heard it click which meant that Haley had caught up with him. He threw his keys down on the side table and kicked his shoes off his feet, before making an attempt at walking down the corridor towards his bedroom.

Haley managed to stop the door before Nathan managed to slam it shut with her hand and she pushed it back open, walking inside the apartment. She watched as he kicked his shoes off and then saw him attempt to make a run for his bedroom, but she slammed the door shut before he could turn the corner, and she saw him flinch at the loud noise which echoed around the apartment. "Do you mind telling me what the hell that little childish display of yours was about?" she shouted at him, unable to stop the fact that the volume of her voice increased with each word which came out of her mouth.

Nathan couldn't believe the audacity of her. How she could spin this around and blame him for acting the way he did was completely beyond him. He clenched his hands into fists at the side of his body and turned himself around to face her, his face red with rage. "What about your little display, Haley? What the hell were you doing letting that asshole touch you like that?" he roared back at her, wondering how she thought he should act around something like that.

Haley's mouth dropped open in complete disbelief. "What do you mean, 'what was I doing'? I was dancing with someone, Nathan, I mean for crying out loud! What right do you have to come over and act all high and mighty with me?" she responded, her hands flying all over the place, losing any hint of control she had over her actions. She really couldn't believe what she was hearing; she couldn't believe that he was acting so ridiculous over it all. It was just a dance, it didn't mean anything!

"I think when you're fucking me every week, Hales, that I have a right to be interested in what else you're doing, or rather, who you're doing," Nathan fired back at her. He was unable to keep the bitterness out of his voice, and as he thought about what he was saying, the nausea started up again, swirling uncomfortably in his stomach.

Haley could feel her eyes widen as wide as saucers. Was he being serious? She couldn't actually believe what he was saying to her, what he was accusing her of. She was waiting for him to tell her that he was joking, that this whole thing had just been a silly little game of his, that he was just messing around with her. But as her eyes drifted slowly over his face, as she took in the hard line of his locked jaw, the trembling of his cheeks and the narrowness of his eyes, she realised that he was completely and utterly sincere, he really believed that she was fooling around with Ryan. Simply the thought of it was just preposterous. "You're unbelievable," she spat at him as she started to move past him, wanting to get herself as far away from him as she could.

Nathan couldn't believe that she was just going to walk away from him. He wanted some answers from her, he wanted reassurance from her that his mind was just being ridiculous and was playing tricks on him. But as he watched her walk past him, he could see just how livid she was with him, and just as quickly as he'd opened his mouth to shout back at her, he snapped it shut.

Haley shook her head in complete disbelief. She knew she should just go to her room, she knew that she should just let it be, but she was in total shock at what he had accused her of, and she didn't like his words one bit. She knew that if she went to her room now, she'd only spend the entire night tossing and turning, wishing that she'd given him more of a piece of her mind. So she stopped just as she was about to turn the corner, and took two steps towards Nathan, invading his personal space. "You know, if anyone was worrying about someone fucking someone else, it should be me, Nathan, not you. And just for the record, I can fuck whoever the hell I want to."

The fact that she wasn't denying what he had accused her of was driving Nathan mental. And her words did absolutely nothing to abate his fears. He watched as she almost sneered at him and he completely lost it. He reached out to grab a hold of her arm but before he could get there in time, Haley had fled down the hallway towards her bedroom. He ran after her, reaching out and grabbing her hand, using the momentum her movement had given her to push her back against the wall in between the bathroom and her bedroom. For some obscure reason, he was panting, but he didn't know why because he was hardly out of breath.

Haley fought the urge to wince as she felt her back slam against the wall, her eyes instead widening in utter surprise at how rough Nathan was being with her. She honestly didn't think she'd ever, in all the years they had been best friends, seen him this angry with her. Her eyes fluttered over his face quickly, taking in his reddened cheeks, the fire burning fiercely and brightly in his eyes and the way his mouth was slightly open, causing his warm breath to fan out over her face repeatedly. He looked completely and utterly dangerous, and for some ridiculously bizarre reason, she realised that she like it. She really, really liked this wild and untameable version of him, and she desperately wanted more.

Nathan searched Haley's face desperately, trying to get an answer to his question, but he couldn't find what he was looking for. Completely frustrated, he huffed and frowned at her. "Well, have you?" he asked gruffly, leaning his hands on either side of her shoulders against the wall, trapping her into the small, confined space he had created, intent on not letting her go until she'd answered him. This rush of what he could only describe as jealousy seared through his body, tainting every single inch of him. In that moment, he was far too keyed up to think about why he was feeling this way, why he was so protective and possessive of her. All he knew was that he was, and he was going to make sure Haley knew that if this arrangement was going to continue, he wasn't going to stand for her doing whatever the hell she wanted, with whoever the hell she wanted. It was him and him alone. He didn't want there to be anyone else involved in whatever the hell they were to each other, despite whatever cruddy piece of paper he'd signed at the start of all this.

"Have I what?" Haley asked in a slightly distracted voice, wondering what the hell he was going on about. In that moment, she wanted nothing more than for him to rip her dress off her and push his long, hard cock into her. Why she was suddenly so turned on was completely beyond her, but she was, and she wanted him, badly. She arched her back as subtly as she could, causing her breasts to rub against his chest and she closed her eyes for a brief second, relishing in the slight contact she made with him, feeling this heat rush through her entire body.

Nathan felt Haley's breasts rub against his chest, and he moved his eyes away from her face to see how she was managing to touch him when he wasn't pressing himself up against her. He instantly realised that looking down was a very big mistake, because all he was met with was Haley's cleavage, which, if he wasn't mistaken, was being pressed up against his body on purpose, and he couldn't help but wonder if she was wearing a bra or not? Mulling the thought over in his mind for a few seconds, he came to the conclusion that she wasn't wearing a bra. He grew completely and utterly mesmerized with the soft fullness of her breasts, finding himself unexplainably wanting to touch them, to lick them and he instantly forgot all about what he was asking her, about the reassurance he had been seeking from her. If he didn't know any better, judging from the way she was rubbing herself against him, and the way her breathing had become particularly ragged  
and laboured, he'd have to say that she was enjoying herself.

Haley couldn't help but grin as she watched Nathan stare at her breasts with ridiculous intensity, a look of complete wonderment on his face. She decided that he deserved to be teased after the ridiculous stunt he had played earlier on in the club, and so she arched her back a little more, pushing her body up into his and then she moaned softly. She heard Nathan's breathing increase in pace and she licked her lips, wanting to push him a little bit more, because for some reason she had decided that she liked this rough, out of control Nathan. "What were you asking me, Nathan?" she pressed again, watching as his eyes snapped up to meet hers, the hunger in them more than evident.

Nathan heard Haley jolt him out of his fantasies about her breasts and he lifted his eyes to meet hers, seeing this burning desire starting right back at him. He tried very hard to recall what she had asked him, and then he remembered that she had asked him what he had been asking her about, which then caused another wave of possessiveness to wash over him. He stared into her eyes, scowling slightly as images of her dancing with that prick forced their way back into his mind. Pressing his body forwards, he forced Haley's back to lie flat against the wall, his eyes menacing as he stared at her intently. "Do you think it was fun for me, watching you let someone else touch you like that?" he asked in a dangerously low voice.

Haley could feel herself getting wetter and wetter, her need for him growing to inexplicable levels, and she drew in a shaky breath, trying her best to control herself. She closed her eyes for a brief second, trying to gather resolve because Nathan's gaze was doing absolutely nothing to help her calm down. He looked furious and ravenous, and she wanted him to take a bite out of every single inch of her. She licked her lips as she opened her eyes and she saw Nathan's gaze drop to follow the movement of her tongue, seeing his eyes glaze over. She watched him intently, and in that moment, as she considered his words, she realised that he had been jealous of Ryan. She wondered why he was, because didn't their agreement protect them from feelings like this. However, before she could question him on it, she shuddered when she felt his finger trace along her arm towards her shoulder, leaving a trail of goose bumps behind.

Nathan raised his eyebrow as his eyes intently followed his finger, watching as Haley's skin prickled and a shudder rippled through her body. He realised that she was more than enjoying what he was doing to her, and another rush of possessiveness weaved its way through his body. He raised his gaze from her arm to meet Haley's longing, intense brown eyes and continued to move his finger lightly over her skin. "Do you think anyone else could ever make you feel this way, Hales? Do you think that prick, or anyone else for that matter, knows you the way I know you, knows your body like I know it?" he said, utterly confused as to the turn this conversation had taken. He'd been thoroughly angry with her one moment, and all it had taken was a simple touch from him and a shudder from her to turn the tables completely. Now instead of being furious with her, he was ridiculously turned on, and wanted nothing more than to bury himself inside of her, to feel  
her warm walls contracting around his cock, spurring him on to his inevitable release.

Haley felt Nathan's hand trace a slow path down her arm, until he got to her wrist, and then he shifted his hand onto her hip, causing a quiet moan to escape from her lips. She closed her eyes, unable to hold them open as she felt his hand slip slowly, and presumably deliberately, down her thigh. Her heart rate had increased to abnormal levels and she was practically mewling, needing far more from him than just feeling his hand slide down her leg. She could feel his warm breath, laboured and heavy, blowing out over her face, and she opened her eyes, seeing his dark blue eyes staring right at her, a look of complete and utter hunger and want on his face.

Nathan's fingers eventually reached them hem of Haley's dress and instead of feeling material under his fingertips, he was greeted with the even silkier and softer feel of her skin. He looked intently into her eyes, searching for something, though he couldn't be sure what it was. Tracing idle circles on her thigh, he continued to stare at her, trying to work out what he was looking for. Eventually, he realised that he wanted her to be feeling as wrapped up in him as he seemed to be in her. He wanted her to understand and reciprocate the feeling that he viewed her as being his, as belonging to him, but how could he vocalize that? He couldn't very well ask her outright, he didn't want to make an absolute fool of himself, but he certainly could gauge her reactions to his ministrations. With renewed vigour, he slipped his hand up underneath her dress and had to bite back the smirk which was threatening to cover his face when he felt Haley shift her legs a little wider in anticipation of what she thought was coming. He watched, completely mesmerized with the way her eyes were pleading with him to move faster, to get to where she wanted him desperately quicker. His fingers danced their way up her thigh until they eventually met with the lace of her panties, and he proceeded to trace them along the edge, delaying the inevitable. His fingers were itching to be inside of her, to give in and give her what he knew she so desperately wanted, but he managed to resist the temptation of her warmth, somehow.

Haley actually wanted to scream, she was getting that frustrated with Nathan's lack of movement, or rather, lack of movement to where she wanted him to touch her. She looked longingly into his eyes, trying to communicate with him, but she couldn't read his expression. He seemed to be thinking intently about something, confusion clouding his usually bright, blue eyes. She could feel his fingers skirting along the edge of her panties and she squirmed slightly against his hand, hoping to force him into touching her exactly where she wanted. But as she shifted her position, it only seemed to enlighten him to the fact that he was torturing her, and the pressure of his finger lightened as he raised an eyebrow and fought the smirk she could see playing at the corners of his mouth. Raising her eyebrow back at him in response, she decided to up the ante, and reached underneath her arm to unzip her silk dress, watching with a satisfied smile as his eyes dropped to her now bare breasts, her dress pooling on his arm which was still tucked beneath it.

"Fuck!" Nathan muttered as his eyes instantaneously fell to her bare breasts, realising that his earlier assumption about her not wearing a bra had in fact been correct. He watched her puckered nipples elongate against the coldness they had just been exposed to and he couldn't help the fact that he licked his lips at the sight of them. Before he was barely even able to process a single thought, his mouth was lowering to capture one of them in his mouth, his tongue tracing a circle around her nipple a few times before he captured it between his teeth, tugging sharply on it, and eliciting the sexiest noise to fall from Haley's lips.

"God, Nathan!" Haley moaned as she felt Nathan's teeth close around her nipple. She closed her eyes and arched her back, pushing her breast against his mouth, encouraging him to bite harder. She moved her hands around his neck and raked her fingernails into his scalp, holding his head in place as he continued to play with her nipple. She heard him groan around her breast as she raked her nails back down to the nape of his neck and he increased the efforts he was paying to her breast. She moaned softly and then moved her hands further down his back, bunching up his t-shirt so that she could take it off him, wanting to be able to feel as much of his skin as she possibly could.

Nathan could feel his t-shirt being collected by Haley's hands, and when she tugged it up so the material knocked against his chin, he decided that he should probably move his mouth away from her breast so that she could take the top off him. It was only then that he remembered where his hand was, and so, as he was moving away from her breast and she was lifting his t-shirt over his head, he quickly moved her panties to the side and plunged two of his fingers into her wetness, finding her absolutely soaked.

"Holy… fuck!" Haley screamed out as she felt Nathan's fingers move swiftly inside of her. She dropped her grip on his t-shirt, barely able to register that it was just hanging limply on his arms. Bracing her hands against the wall in a vain attempt to prevent herself from sinking onto the floor in a puddle, she licked her lips and took a deep breath, needing to gather herself for a second as her body adjusted to the pleasure Nathan's fingers were creating. However, as soon as she closed her eyes, the speed and pressure of his fingers increased and he growled at her.

"Eyes open, Hales," Nathan growled as he increased the pace of his fingers, slipping a third in as he curled them, rubbing that delicious spot inside of her which caused her hips to buck towards him every time, much like they were doing now. He watched as her eyes widened in surprise and then she struggled to keep them open for a few seconds, before she focussed her gaze on his.

Haley continued to look at Nathan, finding it easier to fight the temptation to shut her eyes if she concentrated on something. She was considering the words Nathan spoke to her earlier, about how he was the only person who could ever make her feel this way, and in that moment, when he was making her feel as good as he was, she completely believed him. After the disaster that had been Chase, Nathan was literally a sex God. He always made her feel ridiculously good, and not only that, the orgasms she experienced with him were Earth-shatteringly good. With every pass Nathan was making, he hit her g-spot, and she started to rock her hips to the rhythm he had set, feeling her orgasm gain momentum extremely quickly.

Nathan could feel her inner muscles begin to tighten, and after a couple more strokes, they were contracting sporadically around his hand as she cried out his name, her body shuddering as she arched her back against the wall. His eyes flickered over her face, wanting to capture exactly how she looked when she was in the middle of a strong orgasm because she looked absolutely beautiful. That wasn't to say that she didn't look beautiful when she was just pottering around the apartment, either. But there was something special about the way she held his gaze, about the gentle blush which covered her perfect skin, and the way her mouth would murmur his name. It was almost like it was magical, something he was privileged to see.

Haley felt Nathan remove his fingers from her and her dress pooled to the ground around her ankles. She watched through hooded eyes while she struggled to catch her breath as he shook his t-shirt from his arms, discarding it behind him somewhere. Raking her eyes up his toned chest, she felt this jolt of longing rush through her entire body, and even though she should be fully sated after the orgasm he had just given her, she couldn't help but want more. She wanted to feel his cock inside her, making her feel amazing, as only he could.

Nathan felt Haley's hands wrap around his neck and she gently tugged him closer to her, so he took a couple of steps towards her, feeling her breasts press against his bare chest. He closed his eyes for a brief second when he felt her lips descend on his neck, leaving a trail of hot, wet kisses towards his ear. Her teeth latched onto his earlobe and she tugged gently, causing his cock to get impossibly hard and a shudder of need rippled its way through his body. He moved his hands to the sides of her body and trailed his fingers down her silky skin until he got to the waist band of her panties, where he hooked his thumbs inside.

Haley's own hands were working their way down to Nathan's jeans. Bringing them around to the front of his body, she leaned her back flat against the wall, giving herself just enough room to unclip his belt and undo his buttons. She licked a trail around the shell of his ear and heard him groan quietly to himself as she slipped her fingers inside his boxers, wanting to get him naked. "You're right, you know. No one has ever made me feel like you do. No one knows me like you do, Nathan. And I doubt anyone will ever be able to make me feel as good as you do," she said lowly into his ear as she pushed his boxers and jeans over his hips and down his legs.

As soon as Haley agreed with Nathan's earlier words, another rush of possessiveness coursed its way through his body like an uncontrollable wild fire. He felt this rush of euphoria tingle through his veins; she needed him, rather like how he needed her. He kicked off his jeans and boxers and then made quick work of getting her panties off her body. Cupping his hands around her bottom, he lifted her up from the floor, smiling when she automatically wrapped her legs around his waist. He pressed her up against the wall, cursing to himself when he realised that he hadn't got the angle right at all.

Haley was getting incredibly impatient as she could feel Nathan's hard cock resting so close to where she desperately wanted him to be but he was muttering some expletives under his breath and not giving her what she was waiting for. She grew even more confused when he pulled them away from the wall. What the hell was he doing? Deciding to act now before he moved them somewhere else, because she really did want to tick 'against a wall' off her list now that he had initiated it, she reached down in between them, crawled up his body slightly and then sunk herself onto his cock, moaning as she did so.

"God… fuck, Hales!" Nathan swore as he tried to steady himself, wondering what she thought she was playing at. "What the fuck?" He tried to look down at her but she had buried her head in his neck and had began to rock her hips so that his cock was now moving in and out of her, causing him to momentarily forget why he had been so surprised at what she had done because it just felt amazing.

"You always feel so good, Nathan," Haley moaned as she continued to rock her hips, her head resting on his shoulder. She raked her fingernails across his skin, wanting him to help her with her movement because she wasn't nearly getting enough momentum from moving her hips on her own.

Nathan growled when her words reverberated around his brain, and he squeezed his hands on her ass and quickly moved them both over to the wall opposite where they had started, slamming Haley's back against it, before he pulled his hands out of the way, resting them on the wall beside her body. He then thrust his cock into her warm, wet pussy, hearing her cry out his name as she clenched her eyes shut and arched her back against the wall, pushing her body closer to his.

Haley had to bite down on her lip to stop the rather embarrassing moans from falling continuously from her mouth. She moved her hands into Nathan's hair and pulled sharply, causing him to groan out as he continued to slam his cock inside of her, moving at an increased and frenzied pace. "Mmmm," she moaned as she rocked her hips in time with his thrusts. "Harder." God, she couldn't get enough of him.

Nathan acquiesced with her request, bracing his hands against the wall as he bent his knees and then pushed his cock into her, at what was hopefully the right angle to really get her going. He felt her muscles clench around his cock, and he groaned in response, loving the constricting feel of her. He was vaguely aware of the fact that her back was smacking against the wall with every one of his movements but she didn't sound like she was in pain, her moaning sounded as if she liked what he was doing very much. He was so caught up in her, everything about her completely and utterly drew him in to this place where only she and him mattered, where only she and him existed and lists and agreements and rules weren't in place. "Yes… God, that's it baby."

Baby? Haley practically melted on the spot when she heard him call her that. It was something he'd never said to her before, and she liked the way it sounded far too much. She wanted to hear him say it again, just so that she could store the way he had said it in her brain for future use. However, just as that thought entered her head, she felt Nathan brush his finger over her clit, and she moaned loudly, tightening the grip her legs had on his waist, digging the heels of her feet into his ass so that he would thrust even faster than he was currently. After a few more strokes, she felt her body tense and her orgasm rushed over her like a tidal wave, drowning her in him completely, before he followed suit, his throbbing cock stilling its movement as he muttered her name.

Nathan rested his forehead against Haley's, waiting for both of their breathing to calm down a little. He felt rather guilty at how rough he had been with her, and he desperately wanted to know if he had hurt her in any way. Pulling away from her, he looked deep into her eyes, which were still burning dimly with the fire he had seen in them earlier. "Gorgeous, was I too rough with you?" he asked, and then quickly decided that he needed to apologise to her regardless of whether she thought he had been too rough or not, because he certainly thought he had been. "I'm sor…"

Haley quickly silenced Nathan with her finger which she pressed against his lips. She smiled at him, still revelling in how good it had felt when he had called her baby. Her back could be bleeding for all she knew and she wouldn't have felt a thing, because every single inch of her was currently blissfully sated. "That… Nathan… that felt fucking amazing!" she said as she licked her too dry lips and wrapped her hand back around his neck.

Nathan had to chuckle at her. He glanced over her head at the wall behind her before he brought his gaze back to meet Haley's and he placed a chaste kiss right on the tip of her nose. "It did, gorgeous," he muttered quietly, glad that she hadn't thought he had been too harsh with her. He continued to gaze into her deep, brown eyes as the silence descended around them.

Haley couldn't tell whether this was an awkward kind of silence or not. She watched as Nathan stared at her like he wanted to say something to her but couldn't find the words. After a couple more weird seconds, she decided to break the silence. "Well, I guess we can tick 'against a wall' off the list now, huh?" she said, smiling when she saw his mouth break into a smirk.

Nathan smiled and shook his head at her. "I guess we can, gorgeous," he returned. He didn't know what he was about to do or say and was slightly relieved at the reprieve Haley had given him. With a quiet sigh, and the knowledge that he really needed to do some thinking after everything that had happened that evening, he pulled them away from the wall and started to walk down the corridor towards Haley's bedroom.

"Where are we going?" Haley asked as she felt Nathan walk them down the hallway towards her bedroom.

"I'm putting you to bed," Nathan responded, as if she'd asked him a stupid question. Where did he think he was taking her?

Haley moved her hands up into his hair and began to play with a few strands. She bit down on her lip, wondering whether she should even voice what she wanted. Weren't things already clouded enough between them? However, she knew she wouldn't be able to sleep otherwise, so she took a deep breath and just asked, after all, the worst he could say was no, right? "Could I sleep in your bed tonight?"

Nathan halted his movement down the corridor and a huge smile swept over his face. It was just more proof that she was feeling the same things he was, wasn't it? A warm, slushy feeling spread through his body and without saying a word he turned them around and headed for his bedroom.

A loud banging noise caused Nathan to shift slightly in his sleep. He pondered what was going on and waited for it to go away, but it only seemed to get louder and more insistent instead of fading into nothing. So he opened his eyes, blinking a couple of times while they adjusted to the light which was pouring in through the window, and then he realised that his arm was wrapped around Haley's body, which was snuggled right against his. God, what a completely perfect and blissful way to wake up in the morning. He smiled softly at her, watching the slow rise and fall of her chest and felt the way her breath warmed his skin, completely and utterly enchanted by her. He thought back to last night and frowned again, knowing that he needed to apologise for his behaviour. He'd been completely out of order with her, and he hoped the damage he had caused would be repairable. But for now, he was just going to enjoy watching Haley sleeping peacefully.

Only then the banging started up again.

Groaning quietly to himself at the most unwelcome interruption, he pried his arm away from Haley, smiling softly when she stirred slightly and mumbled something he couldn't comprehend. "Shush, gorgeous, I'll be right back," he whispered and then placed a soft kiss on her forehead, which seemed to placate her because she stopped moving and settled back down.

Nathan left her sleeping and wandered along the hallway towards the front door, hearing the banging getting louder with each of his footsteps and he mentally cursed whoever was behind the door because if they didn't stop soon, then they'd end up waking Haley. He walked a little faster in an effort to get there quicker and in turn stop the ridiculous noise.

Haley wanted the banging to stop. She couldn't get back to sleep because of it, and it was making her incredibly grumpy. However, her grouchiness was quickly replaced with absolute horror when the realisation of who was at the door hit her in the face like a ton of bricks.

Nathan eventually reached the door and opened it up, still wiping the sleep from his eyes, wondering who the hell would be coming around to the apartment so early in the morning.

Haley raced her way along the corridor, praying with all her might that she would get to the hallway before Nathan opened up the door, because she knew, without question, who was going to be on the other side, and after the way Nathan acted last night, she didn't know what the hell he was going to do once he realised who was at the apartment. "Nathan, don't open the door," she shouted as she continued to race along the corridor.

Nathan turned his head, wondering why Haley was shouting at him to not open the door but it was too late now, he'd already opened it, so he decided to ignore her. He turned his head back towards the door, keen to see who was there. Once he had turned his head, he stood there, completely and utterly confused when he saw the prick from last night standing there in a pair of running shorts and a sleeveless shirt, looking like he was about to sprint his way through the apartment or something. What the fuck was he doing, showing up here at this time in the morning?

Ryan recognised the man standing in the apartment as the dude from last night, the one who had whispered something in Haley's ear and then caused her to race after him, leaving him standing on the dance floor completely on his own. He was slightly confused for a brief second, and felt like he had been punched in the gut, but he quickly reasoned with himself that Haley could spend the night with whomever she chose. He wasn't in any position to question her. So he stood up a little straighter and puffed his chest out a little, refusing to be intimidated by Haley's one night stand, or whoever the hell this person was. He couldn't bear the thought that he might be someone or something more to her than that, he simply couldn't allow the thought to even enter his head. Mind you, he wasn't sure that a one night stand was any better than the thought of her having a more permanent relationship with someone other than him either.

Nathan realised that he hadn't said anything and the sound of Haley's footsteps running along the hallway towards the door snapped him out of his raging thoughts. He glared incredibly menacingly at the man Haley had been dancing with last night, the one who apparently, according to Brooke, worked at the gym they went to. "What the hell do you want?" he said through gritted teeth, his fist clenching around the doorframe to stop him from punching the living daylights out of this asshole.

Ryan was slightly taken back by the threatening tone he was using with him and decided to play the only card he had, the one which told this man that he actually had a right to be here. He grinned at the dude, barely able to contain his excitement about what his face was going to look like once he realised that he wasn't just showing up out of the blue, that he had a prearranged meeting with Haley. "I'm here to pick Haley up for our marathon training session. Is she ready to go?"

**AN – I want to apologise for how long this chapter took me to get out to you all – and to those of you who had to wait a while for teasers. I've been going through a lot of real life crap in the last few weeks which has kind of got in the way of everything...**

**So, as per usual, I'd love to hear your thoughts on the chapter.**

**A teaser will be available once it has been written, so let me know in a review if you want me to send it to you.**

**For those of you waiting for BAH to update and for teasers, Rebecca and I will send them out as soon as they are written. Sorry for the delay – we know we're fail and missed our date of posting but life has been crazy for the both of us.**


	14. Chapter 14

**AN – I'm actually shocked it's been two months since I updated. I just want to apologise to you all for going a bit AWOL, I've been going through some stuff and it's taken me a while to get back into the swing of things.**

**I also want to say thanks for the reviews you guys have left me, they've been making me smile a lot – which is just what I needed.**

**As usual, a couple of words to those of you who left reviews without accounts... **Ann** – I'm so pleased you enjoyed the last chapter and jealous Nathan! Hope you like this one too! **Kaefoster – **Glad you liked the last chapter – hope you enjoy this chapter! **Rachel – **Hee hee – I'm sorry you don't really like Ryan but I hope you like the update! **Haley Elizabeth James – **So glad you enjoyed the last update and I hope you like this chapter too! **Mazzy – **Glad you enjoyed the update and liked jealous Nathan too! Hope you like this chapter! **Sarah – **I'm so pleased you enjoyed the update! Hope you got the emails okay and that you enjoy this chapter! **Sam – **So pleased you enjoyed the chapter and Nathan and Haley's developing relationship! Enjoy the update! **Lou – **Glad you liked the update and the smut in the last chapter! Hope you like this one too! **Sms – **Glad you liked jealous Nathan and the last chapter! Hope you like the update! **Krista – **I'm so pleased you're enjoying the story! Unfortunately I work so don't get long summer vacations... hope you enjoy the update! **NaleyFanAlwaysForever - **So pleased you enjoyed the last chapter so much and I hope you like this update too! **Amy – **I'm so glad you're enjoying the story and I hope you like the new chapter! **Rebecca – **Unfortunately your email didn't show up but I'm so pleased you like the story and I hope you enjoy the update!**

**Big, big thanks go out to Kristen and Rebecca, and also to Jackullin for their help on the chapter. I also want to thank all the girls who have offered me support, advice and generally just been there for me over the last two months, you all know who you are :o).**

**I'm going to be quiet now because it's been too long – quick reminder as to where we are in the story – Ryan just showed up at the apartment, Nathan answered the door and learnt that Haley is training for a marathon...**

**Enjoy!**

**Chapter Fourteen**

Haley wanted the ground to literally open up and swallow her whole. In that moment, she didn't care if the only path down there was to hell, in fact, she'd gladly take that route rather than have to deal with what was going on in front of her right now. A rush of fury flowed right through her body; she was so angry at Ryan for having such a big mouth and blabbing the secret she'd been hiding fairly effectively from Nathan. But the rage she felt towards him was quickly eclipsed by the tidal wave of guilt she felt wash rapidly through her entire being, especially when she saw Nathan's whole body tense up as he processed the words he had just heard.

The words 'marathon training session' reverberated around Nathan's head. It was as if the words were on a loop, and he couldn't seem to switch it off, he couldn't seem to shut the stupid voice inside of his head up. His entire body began trembling and he gripped onto the door so tightly, he was vaguely surprised that it didn't crumble into sawdust in his hand. Even though the words continued to rush through his mind, his brain couldn't actually absorb what it all meant. He wasn't sure how much time passed, and it was only when the prick standing in the doorway spoke again that he was able to jolt himself out of the trance he seemed to be trapped in.

Ryan couldn't stop grinning, he actually felt like the cat that had caught the canary, and could practically feel the yellow feathers sticking out of his mouth, tickling his skin, especially when this dude's face dropped like it had. It was as if he'd popped the best sucker punch right in his gut, and he licked his lips in satisfaction. He then noticed Haley standing behind the guy, wearing nothing but a sheet wrapped around her body. Now, he realised, it was his turn to feel like he'd been punched smack in the stomach, and his face fell, only for a second, before he quickly covered it up with his broad smile again. He wasn't quite sure what was going on here, the air was thick with tension and the silence was starting to make him feel rather uncomfortable. "Hey, Haley. You ready to go on our run?" he asked, glancing over the dude's shoulder at her again.

Finally jolted out of his haze, Nathan looked over his shoulder, almost surprised to see Haley standing there. He wanted to believe that this wasn't true, that she wasn't actually training to run a marathon, but the guilt was so obvious, it was practically written right across her face. He really looked at her, his eyes boring deep into her body, telling her without words just how disappointed he was in her. A rush of anger fired its way through his veins, how the hell could she put herself in danger like this? He really didn't understand what she thought she was doing.

Haley had to look away from Nathan's intense gaze because it was making her feel as though she were only about ten centimetres tall. She stared at the floor, her hands holding the sheet she had wrapped around her body that little bit tighter, as if she hoped that the flimsy cotton could actually offer her some protection from his stare. Braving a cautious glance up, she avoided Nathan's eyes like the plague and settled her gaze on Ryan, who was dressed in his running gear, looking lively and slightly bemused about what was actually unfolding in front of him. She twisted her hand in the sheet and shuffled about on her feet. "Ryan… I… I'm not sure if that's a good idea today," she managed to mumble. Her eyes flittered quickly over to Nathan's, and she could see that his were now dangerously vacant.

"No, don't mind me, Hales. You go ahead," Nathan said, unsure of why he found himself speaking those words, and feeling rather confused about how he'd managed to get them out so calmly. It was as if he wasn't really there in that moment, he felt like this was all some kind of nightmare he was unluckily trapped in. But he realised that he needed to be alone for a while, to process what he'd just learnt and work out what he was going to do about it. He was incredibly angry at her and so it was probably best that she left the apartment for a while anyway. Even though it would have made him feel a damn sight better, he was sure that in the long-term, reacting and shouting at Haley right now wouldn't be the best way to proceed with this mess. Deciding that he'd seen enough of this, and needing some space to clear his head, he brushed past her without even giving her a second glance, locking himself away in his bedroom, slamming the door shut as he did so, just so she knew how unhappy he was with her. Not that she'd need a reminder, he was sure of that.

Haley was incredibly surprised that Nathan had just walked away from the situation entirely. There was a part of her that wanted him to confront the point right now, she wanted him to deal with it now, to react and get angry and shout at her, after all, it was only what she felt like she deserved. But as she heard the door to his bedroom slam shut, she realised that he wasn't going to do what she wanted. So in order to get herself out of the apartment, she turned her attention back to Ryan, deciding that a good, hard training session was exactly what she needed to get her mind off everything that had just happened. "Give me ten minutes to get myself ready and I'll meet you downstairs," she said, before shutting the front door and running down the hallway to her bedroom.

With each pound of Haley's feet against the pavement, her mind conjured up differing words of disapproval, disappointment and anger she was sure she was going to face when she eventually made it back to the apartment and Nathan. Each word her mind imagined him saying made her run that little bit faster. She was aware that she was working incredibly hard today, but she had this surge of adrenaline rushing through her body, fuelled mainly by fear of what she'd surely confront when she got home. The sun was shining brightly on her face, the summer day beginning to heat up. She felt rather out of place, running in the sun like she was. Clouds and grey would have much better suited the impending doom she could feel chasing her.

Ryan was acutely aware that Haley hadn't uttered a word to him since she told him to wait for him downstairs. She had appeared from the building, and in a flash was running down the road towards the park, not even giving him a chance to say hello again or catch her up, though eventually he had. He glanced at her again from the corner of his eye and could see that she was still wearing that scowl. She looked like she was concentrating incredibly hard on something, and Ryan could feel this uncomfortable swirl start again in his stomach. He really hoped she wasn't angry with him for what had happened this morning. He wasn't entirely sure what the deal was, but the dude back at the apartment clearly hadn't been happy. He glanced down at the ground briefly, and when he raised his head, he saw that Haley had surged forward yet again. Knowing that if she continued running like she was she'd do herself an injury, he decided to stop her.

Haley hoped that if she ran fast enough or far enough, the voice in her brain would eventually get left behind. So she sped up again, willing her mind to just become quiet, only it didn't work. Instead, she felt Ryan wrap his hand around her arm and tug her back, catching her before she stumbled to the floor.

"Haley, you need to stop. You're going to hurt yourself if you continue speeding up like that," Ryan said as he drew in a deep breath, trying to calm his racing heart down. He felt Haley shake his hand off her arm, but he gave her a scalding look which seemed to stop her from running away from him again. Folding his arms across his chest, he tried to work out what was wrong with her, but she was shielding her emotions from him expertly, it was like she was wearing a mask. He always found her incredibly difficult to read.

Haley shook Ryan's hand off her arm and was about to take off again, but he looked at her like he would actually fling himself on top of her if she dared move an inch forward, so she decided to stay put. She watched as he looked at her curiously, and she quickly averted her gaze from him. She felt slightly annoyed that Ryan had interrupted her flow, because now that she wasn't moving, the voices inside her head were screaming out at her incredibly loudly. "I'm not going to hurt myself by running, Ryan. I've been doing it for a while now, in case you'd forgotten," she said defiantly, wishing that were truly the case. It was only then that she felt the burning stitch inside her lungs and realised that she was actually gasping for breath. She could see Nathan's disapproving look, clear as day in her mind, but she quickly shook the image from her head, not wanting to dwell on it any longer.

"Believe me, Haley, regardless of how far you've come since we started training, if you continue running like that you will do yourself some damage." Ryan unfolded his arms and flopped them heavily at his sides. He took a deep breath and moved his eyes away from her. "Look, if I did or said something I shouldn't have, then I'm really sorry. I…"

Haley had to interrupt him. Though she was slightly angry at the way Ryan had just blabbed that she was training a marathon to Nathan, she knew that she was more annoyed with herself. It was her choice to keep this from Nathan, and in all honesty, he was bound to find out sometime. "Ryan, look. It wasn't anything you said. It's just that Nathan didn't know I was planning on running the marathon…"

The frown on Ryan's head increased for a brief second before he felt an incredible weight be lifted from his shoulders, and he had to interrupt Haley just in case he'd misheard her. "That was Nathan?" he asked, his voice holding a slight tone of disbelief.

Haley scrunched her eyebrows together, wondering why Ryan was asking her such a stupid question. "Of course that was Nathan, who the hell else would have been in the apartment?" she asked.

"Nathan as in your best friend Nathan, the one you live with?" Ryan clarified.

"Yes that Nathan. I only know one Nathan, Ryan," Haley returned.

Ryan felt like laughing, only he managed to catch himself just before the laugh forced its way up his throat, because he looked at Haley again and remembered the situation he was currently in. She was upset, or rather angry, and it wouldn't do to laugh right now, the timing wasn't right. So he decided to steer the conversation back again, wanting to be a good friend and offer her some advice, see if he could help or something. "Sorry, I just didn't realise that he was Nathan. So how come you didn't tell him about the whole marathon thing, I mean surely he'd be proud of you, right?" he asked, not really seeing why Haley training for a marathon would cause as much tension as he'd felt back at her home.

Haley had to roll her eyes at Ryan's words. She wished that Nathan could be proud of her, but she knew that would be the very last thing he would be feeling upon having learnt what she had been up to these past couple of months. "It's… well it's a little more complicated than that." The last thing she needed was to reveal to Ryan the extent of just why it was so much more complicated…

"You want to talk about it?" Ryan asked, really hoping that Haley would say yes. He wanted her to be able to share her problems with him.

Haley shook her head. "Not really. But thanks for the offer, I appreciate it," she responded. She chewed on her cheek for a moment, doing her best to block out the thoughts which were racing ferociously through her mind. Deciding that she needed a distraction, she glanced back up at Ryan. "Can we do some more running now?"

Ryan studied Haley carefully, still seeing that something was obviously wrong. However, he'd offered to listen and she hadn't taken him up on it. So if she wanted to run, then he'd run with her. "Sure we can, as long as you promise to stick to my pace this time. I meant what I said about doing yourself some damage if you keep upping the pace like you were before."

Haley rolled her eyes at Ryan's concern. She should feel flattered that he was looking out for her the way he was, but she couldn't bring herself to feel that way, not when she was already festering with the dread she felt about returning back home later on. Knowing also that he was probably right, she caved. "Okay, fine, we'll stick to your pace. Ready to get going again?" she asked, before she took off at a pace much slower than she had been running previously.

Ryan sighed as he watched Haley run ahead of him and began to jog alongside her. She still wasn't speaking much and he glanced surreptitiously at her every now and then, trying to figure out what was wrong with her, though he couldn't gain any answers from her expression. Eventually he gave up searching, and jogged alongside her in companionable silence, thinking back over the glorious piece of news he'd just received. He couldn't believe that the guy at the door this morning was Nathan, of all people. It wasn't until he had been running for a good twenty minutes that the questions started to form in his mind. He couldn't understand why if he was just her best friend, he'd acted like he had in the club last night, running off in what could only be described as a fit of complete and utter envy. Glancing at Haley again, he thought about asking her about it, but from the distant look on her face, he gathered that now was not the time. However, if they were only best friends, surely the path was now clear for him to take Haley out on a date, and finally try to get her to fall for his charms outside of the park and the gym.

The dread was growing and knotting in Haley's stomach, so much so that she actually thought she might be sick. She couldn't block out the cool way Nathan had looked at her back in the apartment this morning, the slam of his bedroom door making her jump each time she replayed it in her mind. She honestly didn't know what would be waiting for her when she returned home. Part of her didn't want to go back at all, but she knew she'd only be delaying the inevitable. She had to face him sometime and it was far better to get it all over and done with.

The beeping from Ryan's watch signified that they had come to the end of their training session for today. He slowed them down until they came to a halt and then they both automatically began to stretch out their muscles, performed in complete and utter silence. He regarded her carefully, once again trying to work out what was troubling her, trying to piece together the puzzle. He couldn't seem to work out why she hadn't told Nathan they were training for a marathon, and coupled with that, he had no idea why Nathan had reacted the way he had. None of it made sense to him at all.

Haley stretched out her left leg, and started again on her right, even though she had stretched that leg out already. She was procrastinating, big time, but she still hadn't worked up the courage to face Nathan. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes briefly, trying to quiet her loud thoughts.

"Right, well I have to head to work," Ryan said, his eyes moving over Haley's face, seeing that she was once again distracted by her thoughts. "Are you sure everything is okay?"

Haley was jolted out of her thoughts by Ryan's voice. "Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry about me," she said, managing to place a small smile on her face, grateful for the slight distraction.

"Okay, if you're sure?" Ryan asked again, just to double check with her that she was okay, even though he was pretty sure she wasn't.

"I'm sure," Haley responded.

Ryan gave Haley one last smile before he turned and jogged in the direction of the gym, glancing over his shoulders as he exited the park a couple of times. He frowned deeply when he saw her shoulders slump over. Whatever the matter was, he hoped to get to the bottom of it soon, so that he could help her in whatever way he could.

Nathan sat at the table in the kitchen, tapping his mobile phone against the wood. He was watching the clock, waiting relatively calmly for Haley to finally come home. The past hour and a half or so had been absolutely torturous for him; he really hadn't known what to do with himself. He'd taken a shower and scrubbed ferociously at his skin with the shower gel, the anger he felt at her utter stupidity boiling through his veins dangerously. Then he'd forced himself to calm down as he was getting himself dressed, and tried to think rationally. That was when he'd had the epiphany. He knew no matter how much he talked, screamed or shouted at Haley, she'd never actually take what he said seriously. But there was someone else who she couldn't argue with, and thankfully, he'd managed to get in touch with them. He pushed aside the wave of guilt which rolled through his body, knowing that she wouldn't like the fact that she had gone behind her back like this, but he really had no other choice. If she was choosing to endanger herself like she had been, then he saw it as his duty to put a stop to it and keep her safe and healthy.

Haley walked slowly up the stairs to the apartment, having put off coming home for as long as she possibly could. She'd wandered home at a snail's pace, taking detours everywhere she could just to prolong the dreaded argument she could feel brewing. As she reached the front door of the apartment, she leaned her forehead against the wood, trying to give herself a good talking to, trying to tell herself that what she had been doing was okay, nothing bad had happened to her, she hadn't keeled over or anything, so what was all the fuss about? Steeling herself on this very fact, she squared her shoulders and placed her key in the door, twisting it so that she could walk inside.

As soon as Nathan heard the front door open, the grip he had on his mobile phone tightened and he could feel his jaw clenching. He had to close his eyes and remind himself that going off on one wasn't going to help matters at all, but as he heard her footsteps come closer to the kitchen, he couldn't help the rush of anger which began to bubble along his veins. He had to open his eyes because he began to have flashbacks to the hospital, where he was seeing Haley's frail body laying there with all sorts of machines hooked up to her tiny frame, and he couldn't allow his mind to wander back to that time, he couldn't even begin to think about how close he'd come to losing her. It was that thought which made the fury he felt towards her fire up inside of him, because last time he'd been able to blame someone else, but this time, it was all on her, and there was no doubt in his mind that she was about to feel his wrath.

Haley wondered why the apartment was so quiet, and decided that she'd head into the kitchen to grab herself a bottle of water before she took a shower. She figured Nathan must have gone out because she couldn't hear him anywhere, and she breathed a sigh of relief that she'd at least have some time to try to gather her thoughts before he confronted her about the marathon she'd been secretly training for. She walked along the hallway to the kitchen, and jumped about ten feet in the air when she saw Nathan sat at the kitchen table, looking at her with what she could only describe as contempt and disappointment. She wanted to say something to him, but she found that her breath had caught in her throat, and as she watched his gaze run slowly down her body, taking in her running gear, she actually shivered from the chill his eyes caused her to feel.

Nathan's eyes looked in utter disgust at the tiny shorts and cropped top Haley had on. He wanted to rip them off her body and throw them out of the window in an act of defiance, as a way of telling her that she'd never need them again. Any promise that he'd made to himself of remaining calm seemed to have been forgotten because he dropped his phone noisily to the table and clenched his hands into fists in an effort to stop himself from tipping the entire table over. His whole body was shaking with rage and he could even feel his teeth chattering together. He was waiting for her to say something to him, to explain herself, but she seemed completely frozen in place.

Haley literally couldn't move. She wanted to, more than anything she just wanted to run to her bedroom and shut herself away, but there was something about Nathan's menacing gaze which had her rooted to the spot. Her breathing was getting heavier by the second and she could see that he was looking at her with an impatient expression on his face, like he was waiting for her to say something, but she really didn't know what to say, she couldn't think of a single word to say which would calm his obvious anger down and so she resorted to staring at the tiled floor, not able to bring herself to look at him.

Nathan couldn't take a second more of this silence. He couldn't believe that she was just standing there, not even bothering to offer up an explanation, or an excuse, or anything for that matter. "Well, Haley? Aren't you going to say anything?" he asked incredulously.

Haley raised her eyes slowly from the floor until she was met with the piercing gaze coming from Nathan, feeling like he was burning holes in her skin. She felt this sudden rush of boldness creep through her veins and she instantly decided that what she chose to do in her spare time was in fact none of his business. It was only a marathon, it wasn't like she was planning on swimming across the Atlantic or anything remotely as dangerous. Taking a deep breath to give herself some more much needed courage, she then folded her arms across her chest. "Actually, Nathan, I don't think I need to say anything at all," she responded. She then forced her feet to move from their rooted spot and walked briskly over to the fridge. Reaching out her hand, she grasped the handle and opened it, only before she could get it open ten inches, it was slammed shut by Nathan's strong hand pressing harshly on it.

Nathan was actually seething. How she thought she could endanger herself like this and act as if it were something as simple as breathing or blinking made the fury surge through him yet again. As he saw her move towards the fridge, he quickly got up from his chair and stalked his way across the floor, snapping out his hand to close it before Haley managed to open the door fully. He saw her jump and he would have felt bad, but all he could concentrate on was the searing anger which was flowing through his body like an out of control wildfire. "You see, Haley, that's where you're wrong. You need to say plenty, and I'm not letting you leave this damn kitchen until you've explained what the hell you think you've been doing," he returned in a menacing voice which left absolutely no room for argument.

Haley shuddered at the tone of his voice. She didn't want to appear frightened of him, but that's exactly how she felt. Not really knowing what she could say to calm him down, she took a step backwards, trying to create some space between them. She was begging her brain to come up with some words which she could use but all it was doing was processing just how mad he appeared, and that left absolutely no room for her to think about anything else at all.

Completely exasperated with her silence, Nathan couldn't hold back any longer. He slammed his fist into the fridge door, so hard he was sure he dented it. "So you're not going to say anything? You're not going to even bother to explain why you've been practically trying to kill yourself…" he started, only he was finally interrupted by Haley, who had decided that she could explain herself after all.

"Oh come on, Nathan! I think that's a little bit of an exaggeration, don't you?" Haley interrupted, rolling her eyes at his dramatics as she flung her arms around the air in frustration at his ridiculous words.

"An exaggeration?" Nathan responded incredulously, the volume of his voice increasing dramatically. He took a deep breath which was meant to steady him but it didn't help him at all. "You think seeing your best friend in hospital as a result of severe anorexia, hooked up to all sorts of machines which were forcing food into her body was pretty? Do you think I enjoyed seeing you like that, Haley?"

In an instant, the guilt Haley had been hiding somewhere deep inside her body rushed to the surface and smothered her in shame. She knew how difficult it had been for everyone around her when she'd been hospitalised, most of all Nathan, who'd refused to leave her side for the most part. She could feel her cheeks flushing and her stomach began to swirl uncomfortably.

Nathan could see Haley shrink slightly, obviously his words were hitting home and for that he was glad. But despite that, the anger wouldn't dissipate and he couldn't bring himself to stop now that he had started. He wanted to ensure that she understood fully how disappointed he was in her. He wanted her to feel that ashamed of her actions, she wouldn't even think the word marathon ever again. He knew that she hated talking about her hospital stay, but he needed her to see things from his perspective, he needed her to stop acting so selfishly and understand that she simply couldn't just decide she wanted to run a marathon. "I honestly am completely shocked at you. What the hell possessed you to do something so damn stupid, Hales? Or do you actually want another stint in hospital? Because I sure as hell know that I couldn't take seeing you like that again, ever."

By the time Nathan had finished with his rant, the guilt was literally causing Haley physical pain. She closed her eyes and gave herself a second to allow the anger to boil over the guilt, because she didn't want to feel guilty; she was doing this for herself and no one else. It was her body, and Nathan was being completely ridiculous and totally overprotective with her. She knew that she was summoning these feelings purely for selfish reasons, but she couldn't deal with the emotions which came along with her facing up to her past at the moment. She opened her eyes and gazed at him with a look of complete frustration. The fact that he was bringing up the hospital and asking her if she wanted to go back there had to be the most ridiculous thing she'd ever heard in her entire life. "You know I don't want to go back there, Nathan, what the hell kind of question is that?" she shouted back at him, unable to control the volume of her voice.

"Well what the hell are you doing then? You know you can't exercise like that, the whole reason we got the damn cross trainer, which you never use, was because you're allowed to do gentle exercise only, not train for a fucking marathon," Nathan returned in an equally loud voice.

"I feel fine, in fact, I feel better than fine. I've not been this fit in a long time, Nathan. It's all just a load of precautionary bullshit anyway," Haley shouted back at him. She desperately wanted him to understand that if she thought she was doing herself any damage, if for a second she felt like her heart was going to explode or whatever the hell it was supposed to do, that she'd stop. She wasn't stupid.

"Precautionary bullshit?" Nathan roared, shaking his head incredulously at the words she had spoken. "You have to be fucking kidding me with that, Hales. That 'precautionary bullshit' could save your damn life!"

The way that he actually screamed in her face had caused Haley to fall into complete stunned silence. She actually didn't know what the hell to say to him now. Her eyes cautiously ran up and down his body which was trembling with rage, and his eyes were boring into her like he wanted to actually shake her until she acquiesced with every single thing that he wanted.

Nathan's breathing was incredibly laboured as he battled with the urge to grab her by the shoulders and shake her until she saw sense. She'd clearly lost the plot, and now more than ever he was incredibly glad that he had made that earlier phone call. All of a sudden, he remembered that she hadn't been doing this alone, and that the prick of a man who had arrived at the door this morning had been allowing her to train like she had. It caused him to satisfyingly hate him even more than he did already. "Does that guy know?" he managed to spit out, slightly hoping that he did and had still agreed to go ahead with the training sessions, because then it would give him a very good reason to literally thump him to the ground.

Haley couldn't help the fact that she rolled her eyes in disbelief, her earlier frozen state long forgotten. She folded her arms back over her chest and glared at him in annoyance. "Is that what this is all about?" she asked, and saw Nathan look at her with a confused expression plastered across his face. Realising she would need to spell it out for him she continued. "You're jealous of Ryan?"

Nathan's jaw dropped wide open at her accusation. "You think I'm jealous of an idiot like him? Jesus Christ, Haley, I'm trying to have a serious conversation about you putting your life in danger and all you can ask is if I'm jealous of some stupid gym guy? Do me a favour," he responded through gritted teeth. All he wanted to know was whether she'd told him about her anorexia, how had she flipped that question around to ask him about his apparent jealousy? He was fuming mad, his stomach twisting uncomfortably because his brain had allowed itself for just a second to doubt himself, and question whether Haley actually was right, and he was in fact jealous of this gym guy getting to spend time with her each day. However, he quickly tossed that ridiculous thought out of his brain and concentrated on what was happening here, realising that she'd evaded his question. "You'd better answer me quick, Hales, otherwise I'll head down to the gym and ask him myself."

Haley eyed him suspiciously, so sure that he was jealous of Ryan, even if he wasn't willing to admit it. However, she also decided that now was clearly not the time for her to question him further on the matter, especially when he was threatening to go down to the gym and spill her secret to Ryan. "No, of course he doesn't know," she answered him eventually, the irritation clearly evident in the tone of her voice. "And for the last fucking time, I was not putting my damn life in danger."

Nathan raised his eyebrow at Haley in both anger and challenge. He knew that she wouldn't like what he was about to say next, but given the dismissive way she was talking about her health, he frankly didn't give a shit. "Well, we'll see what Dr Kewell has to say about your 'damn life'," he returned and watched as Haley's face fell completely.

Haley didn't know what the hell he meant but if Nathan's smug face was anything to go by she knew that it clearly wasn't good news for her. "What the hell does Dr Kewell have to do with this?" she asked, the confusion etched clearly in her voice.

"I'm sure he's going to be very interested to hear what you've been up to when we go and see him in about an hour," Nathan said, not liking the fact that he was going to have to take her to the hospital, but like he had thought before, it was clear that she wasn't going to listen to a word he said, so maybe a professional would have more luck with her.

Haley could feel the tears begin to spring in her eyes. The betrayal she felt at Nathan arranging an appointment with her old doctor behind her back felt like a dagger stabbing her right in the middle of her stomach and twisting around there a couple of times for good measure, just to make sure she knew it was there. She felt like she was actually going to be sick, only she couldn't actually bring herself to open her mouth, instead she stood frozen to the spot, eyes wide as she desperately tried to blink back the tears she could feel threatening to fall. "No... no… you can't… I mean…" she stuttered when she eventually found her voice.

Nathan simply sighed as if he'd lost interest in her completely. "Yes, I can, and I did."

The realisation that she was going to have to set foot in that hospital again dawned on her. A barrage of images rushed through her brain as she remember the dingy room she'd had, the bare, plain walls, the disgusting smell, the fake smiles of the nurses and the hushed whispers the doctors used when they stood around her small, uncomfortable bed. Suddenly, she found her voice. "I'm not going," she snarled at Nathan, the menacing sound of her voice catching her by surprise.

Nathan stared at her, looking her right in the eyes, making sure she understood that there wasn't a compromise to be had on this. "You're going, Haley, believe me. I don't care if I have to drag you by the hair, kicking and screaming. One way or another I'm getting you to his office. And so help me God if you don't listen extremely carefully to what he has to say to you," he returned, and then opened the door to the fridge, taking out the orange juice so that he could fix himself a drink. He didn't even glance at her again, and it appeared that she had nothing else to say to him either.

The plain, white walls still hadn't changed. Neither had the uncomfortable plastic seats in the corridor. And the clock on the wall ticked just as loudly as it used to. Nathan had come very close to ripping that clock off the wall the last time he was sat in this corridor, and he was getting extremely near to having those very same feelings again.

He had been incredibly surprised when, an hour after their discussion in the kitchen, he had found Haley waiting in the lounge having showered and changed. She even had her shoes on. She didn't utter a word to him when she turned and saw him in the doorway; she simply slipped past him and walked down to the underground car park. He'd literally thought that he was going to have to carry her here to the hospital, maybe have to tie her legs and arms together so that she wouldn't kick or hit him in the process. But she'd quietly submitted to his request to see the doctor, which was a revelation as far as he was concerned. He wanted to start conversation with her, reassure her that she was doing the right thing but as he'd cautiously glanced at her, he immediately read that she didn't want him to say anything. So the car ride and the wait for Dr Kewell had been greeted with the exact same silence as the exit of the apartment.

Haley had been in the room, so far, for twenty-two minutes and thirty-seven seconds.

And Nathan's leg had been jigging around the entire time.

After what felt like a lifetime, but was, in fact, only twenty-seven minutes and fourteen seconds, the door to Dr Kewell's office opened and Haley stepped out. She didn't even glance at Nathan as she walked past him, and he had to scramble up from the seat and jog along the corridor to catch her up.

The drive home was made in more silence, and it wasn't until Nathan parked his car back underneath the building that he'd managed to summon the courage to ask her how it went. It wasn't that he hadn't been interested, of course it hadn't been that, it was just that the frostiness coming from Haley was enough to make him feel comfortable in the freezing temperatures of the North Pole. "So what did he say?" he asked, hoping that she wouldn't completely go off on one at him for asking.

Completely pissed off with the way he'd gone about this, and so incredibly furious that he'd actually taken her back there, Haley was in no mood for small talk. In fact, she didn't want to talk at all. She heard him cut the engine and ask her how it went. But she ignored him, unbuckled her seatbelt and got out of the car, hearing Nathan sigh heavily just before she slammed the door to the car shut and made her way back into the apartment, vowing to not speak to him until he was grovelling for her forgiveness on his knees. And even then she still might not even grant him it.

Nathan rolled around in his bed, groaning as the sunlight streamed through his curtains. Cautiously opening one eye, he glanced at the clock on his bedside table and was surprised to see that it was already gone eleven in the morning. He rolled over again so he was flat on his back and sighed heavily as he stared at his ceiling, realising what day it was, and more than that, the significance of the day, much like had done every morning since Sunday, the day of the dreaded hospital trip he had been on with Haley.

Today was Saturday. It had been six whole days since he'd said anything to Haley, and given how utterly distant she'd been with him on Sunday after they'd been to the hospital, it was clear as day to Nathan that this rift between them couldn't be fixed by a swanky dinner and a trip to the theatre, like last time. This was so much more serious than that and Haley was so much angrier at him. He strained to get himself in a seated position and threw the covers off his body, cursing the morning wood he was sporting, because it really wasn't appropriate when he was so worried about the state of his relationship with his best friend.

He left his room and stretched as he walked along the hallway to the bathroom, hearing the TV in the lounge which must mean that Haley was engrossed in one of her sitcoms. Locking himself in the bathroom, he started the shower and glared at his reflection in the mirror above the sink while he waited for the water to warm up.

He hated this state of limbo that he and Haley were trapped in, and more than that, he hated the conflicting feelings that had been swarming through his body all week. He was so confused about how he felt over the whole marathon training thing. One minute he felt desperately apologetic about dragging Haley to the hospital and letting the doctor completely chew her out over her stupid actions, which he guessed had happened because he didn't think she'd been out training all week. Checking the laundry basket for her training clothes, and finding none there had pointed towards that fact. But then a minute later, he felt as though she deserved that scalding and at least it had stopped her training, stopped her putting her life in danger.

He sighed heavily as the steam began to rise from the shower, indicating that the water was warm enough for him to now step under it, only his mind wandered yet again. How he could make things right between them, he really didn't know. He knew that Haley had drawn this invisible line underneath what had happened to her in the past, and he knew that talking about the hospital was pretty much off limits, let alone forcing her to go for an appointment, but what the hell was he supposed to have done? He'd already lost his sister, and he'd dealt with that so poorly he was one hundred percent sure that losing Haley too would finish him off completely.

Maybe he was overreacting, like she had said, but after what she'd gone through the last time, he had made a promise to himself that he'd never let her do that to herself again. And he was so angry, not only with Haley, but also with himself, because he should have seen that something was wrong. He'd felt her become lighter, much svelter, and he'd done absolutely nothing about it, except question her briefly about it.

She'd recovered so well from her illness; sure she was slightly self-conscious but he had thought she was getting over that too. So what he couldn't understand is why she had thought this whole marathon thing was a good idea? She clearly knew the risks, otherwise why wouldn't she have told him about it?

That was the other thing which was bothering him hugely, the fact that she'd been keeping secrets from him. They'd been incredibly close before the agreement started, but since then, there seemed, to him, to be this invisible bond between them, which only seemed to grow stronger and stronger, so much so that it was beginning to get incredibly hard for him to be away from her at all. She'd almost become his entire world outside of work, and even when he had been at work she somehow managed to consume his every thought. He lived for Saturday nights, barely able to control the excitement he usually felt when he'd wake up and realise that he'd have the opportunity to be close to her again, after what always felt like too long, even though it was usually just a week since they'd been together like that.

He closed his eyes and upon thinking of the arrangement a barrage of images fluttered into his mind. He could see Haley lying underneath him the first time they had sex, the surprised look in her eyes as he brought her to orgasm, the insecure way she looked at herself in the mirror of her walk-in wardrobe before he took her from behind and then the sexiest image of all came into his head, her legs wrapped tightly around his waist as he slammed her back into the wall last weekend.

He growled at himself in frustration and snapped his eyes open, stalking his way into the shower. It was ridiculous for him to even think about sex when it was clear that they wouldn't be doing anything of the sort that evening, not when they weren't even talking to each other. Only as soon as he got in the shower he remembered that they'd had some pretty hot sex in there too, which certainly didn't help his current predicament. His cock was twitching, practically begging him to touch it and relieve himself of some tension.

He tried to fight the urge and instead concentrated on washing his hair, but every time he thought he'd managed to banish the thoughts from his head, another one would creep in. After three minutes or so, he gave up fighting it. If he didn't, then he was sure he was going to have a severe case of blue balls, and he already had enough problems milling around in his head, the last thing he needed to do was add another one to the list. At least this was one he could sort out relatively quickly.

He trailed his hand down the muscled planes of his stomach and shuddered as he closed his eyes and imagined that it was Haley's hand trailing down his abs. He kept his eyes closed, and gripped his rock hard cock in his hands, wrapping his fingers lightly around it, much like Haley did whenever she touched him there. He blew out a long breath as he slowly moved his hand up his shaft, desperately trying not to buck his hips into his hand to create some more much needed friction.

The water tricked down his body as he continued this torturous pace, imagining Haley biting down on her lip as she watched with rapt fascination. He always found that an incredible turn on, the way she would watch as she touched him. Her breathing would pick up, like she was enjoying it just as much as he was, which couldn't be possible because having her touch him, not just on his cock but anywhere, made him feel like his whole world was absolutely amazing, with no dark corners in it at all.

Upping the pace just a fraction, he groaned in satisfaction as he imagined Haley glancing up to look at him given the noise he had just made. Her eyes would bore into his and a faint smile would flutter over her lips, liking the fact that he was obviously enjoying her ministrations. She'd then up the pace slightly again, and he did so, picturing the way her eyes would become heavier with desire as his breathing picked up a gear.

He tightened the grip his fingers had on his cock, moving his hand up and down his shaft at a much faster rate, bucking his hips with each pass, creating that much needed and desired friction. He could feel his orgasm bubbling up inside of him, his body begging him to release, but he wanted to hold onto the fantasy for a little while longer. His other hand ached to reach out and touch her breasts, run around her puckered nipple and then dip down her stomach so that he could circle her clit, in doing so eliciting the most fabulous noises from her perfect mouth.

He imagined her moaning and withering next to him, and when she could take no more she would cry out for his cock, telling him just how much she craved him, how much she needed him to bury himself inside of her, to claim her as his. It was as that thought entered his mind that his body jerked and he came, shuddering as his cock pulsated in his hand.

He tilted his head back under the shower spray, allowing the water to run down his face and body. Stupidly, he had thought that getting himself off would help with how much he missed Haley, but the truth was, he missed her even more than before now. His hand held nothing to the way it truly felt to be touched and caressed by her, and he really regretted not having any resolve whatsoever. He continued, as always, to be incredibly confused over the way his body seemed to crave her, but he supposed he could put it down to not being around her for nearly a week, this time.

He continued to wash himself and tried to come up with an elaborate plan which would mean that Haley had no choice but to forgive him for what he had done. Right now, he didn't actually care that she should be apologising for lying to him and endangering herself like she had; all he wanted was his best friend back, and he just wanted things to go back to normal between them. He couldn't take the silent treatment for a second longer.

With renewed enthusiasm, but no plan formed in his head whatsoever, he quickly finished up in the shower, turned off the water and jumped out onto the mat. Grabbing a towel from the rack, he wrapped it around his waist and unlocked the door, veering off in the direction of the lounge. He'd just have to beg and plead with her until she agreed that this torture was over. He'd grovel on his knees if she wanted him to, agree to clean the bathroom for a year, buy her a ridiculously expensive pair of shoes every month, anything to make sure things were okay between them both again.

Haley had been channel flicking for the past three hours. She was incredibly bored and felt rather twitchy seeing as she hadn't been out for a run now in five days. Dr Kewell had reprimanded her completely for her training, telling her that she was attempting to do something far too strenuous after when she had been through. She thought it was all a load of rubbish, but when Dr Kewell had seen the look of disinterest in her face, he had explained to her what the consequences of her straining her body so much could be, and needless to say, as much as she enjoyed training, she didn't enjoy it so much that she was willing to risk being back in that hospital for the second time.

The teen drama that she had been half-heartedly engrossed in had just come to an end so she picked up the remote, and just as she was about to begin channel hopping again, she felt her phone vibrate next to her legs where she was curled up on the sofa. She grabbed her phone and glanced at the caller ID before picking up the call. "Hey Ryan," she said once she had placed the phone at her ear.

Nathan stilled his movements just outside of the doorway to the lounge, his breath hitching in his throat as he heard Haley mute the TV and talk to the prick who had taken her training and showed up at their home asking for her. He knew he shouldn't eavesdrop on her conversation, but given that he knew who this guy was, he wanted to make sure that she wasn't planning some secret training session or something equally as stupid with him.

"Hey Haley, how are you?" Ryan asked.

"I'm okay, bit bored if I'm being honest. How about you?" Haley responded as she stretched her legs out in front of her and arched her back against the arm of the sofa so that she could stretch her back out. She hadn't realised how long she'd been sat in that one position and she was beginning to feel a little stiff. She hadn't bothered to get showered and dressed yet because there didn't seem much point. It wasn't as if she was going anywhere today, and Nathan seemed to be dead to the world. Maybe all those hours he'd been working recently were finally starting to catch up with him. It might make him realise that he needed to calm his workload down. She shook her head to herself as that thought entered her brain, telling herself that she didn't really care about him, not after what he had done to her last weekend.

Ryan smiled as he sat himself down on his sofa. "I'm alright, thanks. Don't tell me you actually miss training?" he teased.

Haley couldn't help but smile down the phone at his teasing tone. "You know what, I kind of do," she returned.

"Well I can't have been working you hard enough then," Ryan quipped back.

"Oh believe me, you worked me plenty hard enough," Haley replied, laughing as she lowered her arched back down to the softness of the cushions.

Not being able to help it, Ryan chuckled back at her, glad that she didn't seem to be as pissed off today as she had been last weekend. He stopped laughing and took a deep breath, fiddling with some magazines he had on his coffee table before finally deciding to just go for it. "So, seeing as you're bored, and so am I, do you fancy doing something?" he asked. He really hoped that she would say yes, and he held his breath as he waited for her to answer him. Having not seen her all week, he was really missing their daily catch ups.

"Well, what did you have in mind?" Haley asked. She didn't really want to be cooped up in the apartment all day, and given that she wasn't on speaking terms with Nathan at the moment, she was rather craving some company. She'd also given the bar a miss yesterday just in case Nathan decided to show up. Not wanting to drag their friends into their mess of a situation, she thought it best if she stayed away completely, feigning a headache so that she could get out of it.

Ryan couldn't help but smile given that she hadn't shot him down completely, as he'd been expecting her to. He actually thought he might have a shot at taking her somewhere this time. "Well how about we go for a walk around the Village, maybe grab some food and catch a movie?" he asked, wondering what her reaction to that would be.

Haley bit down on her lip apprehensively. "Like a date?" she asked.

Nathan could feel his hands clenching into fists as he comprehended what her words meant. The flare of what he knew was jealousy erupted like a volcano inside of him. Who the fuck did this wanker think he was? How dare he swoop in and ask Haley, _his Haley_, out of a date. He wanted to punch a hole in the wall he was that out of control, but he found that he was actually too shocked to move. All of a sudden, he began to think rationally and he managed to calm himself down completely. Just because the prick asked her out on a date, it didn't mean that she was actually going to go. If she felt only half of what he did, if she was even a tiny bit as confused as he was over whatever the hell was going on between them both, surely she'd just say no. The thought of him going out for dinner or whatever with anyone other than Haley felt so alien to him, surely she felt that way too about him.

"It doesn't have to be like a date, Haley. It can just be two friends who haven't seen each other in a while hanging out together," Ryan reasoned. He still felt slightly put out that she didn't want this to be a date, but if him reassuring her that it didn't have to be a date meant that he'd get to spend some time with her then he wasn't going to complain.

Haley pondered his request for a couple of seconds. She really was incredibly bored and as much as she didn't want to admit it, it wasn't just the training she was missing; she was also missing spending time with Ryan. Over the last couple of months he'd become a good friend to her, regardless of how annoying she could sometimes find him. She thought about what she'd be doing instead if she didn't go and meet him, and all she would be spending her afternoon doing was avoiding Nathan, which evidently she could do much more effectively if she weren't even in the apartment. "Okay sure, what time did you want to meet?" she found herself saying, before she could start debating with herself about why she should just stay at home.

Nathan felt like someone had knocked all the air out of him. He found himself struggling to breathe and feeling like he was going to be sick at any given second. A thousand and one questions rushed through his mind at once, making him feel incredibly dizzy. What was she playing at? Why was she agreeing to going on a date with this dude? Didn't he mean anything to her at all? Did this agreement really mean nothing to her? The thought left an incredibly bitter taste in his mouth. He did his best to organise his thoughts as he ran his hand through his hair and suddenly he had an epiphany. He realised in that instant that he'd been living in a fantasy land for the past couple of months, and had become so absorbed in what had been going on, become so used to being with Haley, that to him, it had sort of begun to feel like he'd been in an actual relationship with her. But he'd obviously been absolutely stupid and completely blinded by her, because, as he reminded himself, this was just an agreement, and nothing more. Nothing would ever come of it, and when they'd ticked everything off their lists, they'd simply go back to being best friends. It was as if suddenly the fog had cleared from his mind and he could finally see clearly, for the first time in what felt like months.

"How about half an hour, by the fountain in Washington Square Park? That work for you?" Ryan asked, grinning like a fool and hardly believing that she had actually agreed to spend some time with him properly outside of the gym. He wanted them to meet up as quickly as possible, leaving her hardly any room to change her mind, like she'd done when they had agreed to go to the cinema that one time.

Haley glanced down at what she was wearing. "Can we make it an hour and half, I still need to get ready," she said, and then reached over to grab the remote and turned the TV off.

Nathan's epiphany didn't mean that he was okay with Haley going out on a date with this Ryan dude. In fact, he was absolutely fuming, because whether this idiot had actually known or not about Haley's anorexia, the fact of the matter was that he'd still been training her for a damn marathon. So, he reasoned with himself that it wasn't jealousy he was feeling towards this prick, it was just the urge to protect his best friend. But it wasn't like he could say anything; he couldn't very well just tell Haley that she wasn't going out with him, especially after the way he'd forced her into going to the hospital last weekend. He sighed heavily as he resigned himself to the fact that he couldn't enforce any sort of control in this situation at all without looking like he was incredibly jealous, which he totally wasn't. So that he didn't have to actually see her leave to go out with him, he sped along the hallway, quickly slipped on some boxers, a pair of jeans and a t-shirt and hastily left the apartment after grabbing his shoes and his wallet.

"You're still not ready? Jesus, Haley, how lazy are you?" Ryan teased. "God, I don't know, five days away from training and you turn into a complete and utter slob!"

Haley's mouth dropped open in shock but she couldn't help the smile which covered her face. This was exactly why she had missed Ryan over the last couple of days. "I so am not a slob, and you are so going to pay for calling me that later!"

"I'm quaking in my boots," Ryan returned, the smile covering his face beaming brightly enough to light a blackout across the whole of New York.

"You should be," Haley responded, shaking her head to herself as she lifted herself up off the couch.

"See you in an hour and a half then?" Ryan asked.

"Yep, see you then," Haley said as she disconnected her call, and began to wander down the hallway towards the bathroom so that she could have a shower and start getting ready to meet up with Ryan. She craned her neck down the hallway and could see that Nathan's bedroom door was still shut, but she just shrugged and walked into the bathroom. She did think it was rather strange that he was still sleeping, especially given how late in the morning it was, but she wasn't going to bother him. In fact, he could stay shut away in there all day for all she cared; it wasn't like she was going to be here to see him anyway now, thanks to Ryan.

While she was in the shower, Haley couldn't help her mind wandering to the state of her friendship with Nathan at the moment. She still couldn't believe that he had made her go to the hospital. He knew how much she hated it there, how scared she was of going there, yet he'd still arranged that appointment for her, without so much as a word to her about it. She had known, from the determined and cold look he had given her when they were arguing in the kitchen, that he meant what he had said, he really would have dragged her there if she had defied him. There was also a tiny part of her, that she really didn't want to acknowledge, which knew that she'd been doing something wrong, and she guessed she really did want to have a professional's opinion on how much exercise she was doing. But she certainly didn't need Nathan fixing that appointment for her, in fact, he had no right whatsoever to do that without talking to her about it first. However, before she worked herself up into another one of her frenzies, she turned her thoughts to what she and Ryan would be getting up to today, and she instantly felt her entire body relax.

Once Haley had stepped out of her shower, she walked to her bedroom, noticing that Nathan's door was still shut while she was on the way to her room. She then closed the door behind her and wandered into her walk-in wardrobe as she tried to decide what to wear. It was a beautiful day, the sun was shining brightly and it looked to be fairly warm, so she settled on a white sundress and slipped on a pair of flip flops to complete her casual but nice look. She decided to keep her hair wavy, trying to go for a kind of bohemian look, and quickly put on a bit of light make-up. After spraying herself with her favourite perfume, she grabbed one of her handbags, transferred her purse, phone and keys into it and then left the apartment, deciding to walk down to Washington Square Park and make the most of the gorgeous summer weather.

Nathan had chosen to hide himself away in his office as a way of distracting himself and keeping occupied during the afternoon. He was busy reviewing a proposal one of the junior staff members had prepared, but was growing incredibly frustrated with himself because he had been stuck on the first page for a good hour now. He couldn't seem to get his brain to focus on the words in front of him, his mind choosing instead to focus on what Haley was getting up to. He was envisaging all sorts, her holding hands with that prick, smiling and laughing along with him, leaning her head on his shoulder... and then the image of her leaning in to kiss him flowed through his mind, causing him to growl ferociously.

He threw the papers he was holding onto his desk and buried his head in his hands. He'd been repeating constantly to himself that he really wasn't bothered about what Haley was getting up to, but the fact that he hadn't stopped thinking about it for a mere second was more than enough proof that wasn't the case. He was terribly bothered, and it frustrated him no end that he was feeling this way.

He couldn't come up with a simple explanation as to why he was feeling like this. Everything between himself and Haley had become so convoluted recently, and he was only now beginning to wake up to the fact that their agreement would most certainly affect their friendship in unconceivable ways. He was almost one hundred percent certain that things would not go back to the way they had been before once everything on the list had been ticked off. He should be scared about that, especially given the state of his relationship with Haley at the moment, could they ever repair things? Would she be able to forgive him for the hospital fiasco? Would she even want to continue working their way through the lists or was her silence and her date with the prick he way of subtly telling him that the arrangement between them was over?

And then the thought of Haley pursuing a serious relationship with this Ryan prick flowed through his mind, and he actually felt physically sick at the thought. He groaned to himself as he ran his hands through his hair, tugging on the ends like he wanted to pull them out of his head.

Thankfully he was distracted from his confusing thoughts by the ringing of his work telephone, and forgetting that he didn't actually want to speak to anybody, he picked it up. "Nathan Scott," he said.

"Of course you're at work on a Saturday afternoon, where else would you be?"

Nathan rolled his eyes at the sarcasm he could hear in his brother's voice and wished that he hadn't been so consumed with confusing thoughts of Haley, then he might have remembered that he didn't actually want to speak to anybody. "Well done, Luke, you tracked me down," he responded in an equally sarcastic tone.

"Well, when no one picked up your house phone and your cell went straight to voicemail, it wasn't exactly difficult to guess that you'd be in the office. What is it this time, another important deadline to meet?" Lucas asked. He really didn't understand how his brother could stand to work the hours he did, it seemed crazy to him.

"No, no deadline," Nathan said with a sigh. He wished that all he had to worry about was a damn deadline. A deadline was something he could work through, something he could find an easy solution to. The problem he was currently facing was far more complicated than that, and was a problem he could see no solution to whatsoever.

Lucas frowned as he heard the long sigh Nathan let out. He wrinkled his forehead further as he tried to work out what else could have him sounding so despondent, knowing instantly that there was only one other thing which worked his brother up so much. "So you and Haley had an argument or something?" he asked.

"What the hell makes you think that something happened between me and Haley?" Nathan asked defensively. He hated the fact that his brother knew him too well. If it wasn't work, then it was obviously Haley. Was his life really that transparent? Well, he certainly wasn't going to admit that something huge was wrong with himself and Haley. No way.

"Well there are only two things which get you so worked up, Nathan, and you already said it wasn't work, so that just leaves Haley. How is she?" Lucas asked, knowing that when his brother started to snap, things were usually fairly bad between them, and it was usually Haley who took things harder than Nathan.

"How the hell would I know how she is? We're not joined at the hip, you know? I don't know every little fucking detail of her life," Nathan snapped. He could feel his fist shaking and his breath was coming hard and fast. He knew he needed to stop working himself up like he was, but he couldn't help it.

Lucas shook his head, even though he knew Nathan could actually see him. "God, sorry I asked," he said.

"Did you actually want anything or did you just call to see how Haley was?" Nathan asked, irritated beyond belief at his brother's perception of his life.

Knowing that it was no good talking to Nathan when he was in this mood, Lucas decided to get off the phone before his brother exploded at him completely over nothing. "Don't worry, I'll speak to you later," he said.

"Good, I've got loads of work to do," Nathan responded, and then realised that he had just contradicted himself because he had just said that he didn't have a deadline he was working towards. He ran his hand through his hair again and sighed, wanting to just get off the phone. "Bye."

"Talk to you soon," Lucas said and then hung up the phone.

Nathan placed the phone back down on his desk and stared at his office walls, wondering if his brother was right. Did his life truly revolve around work and Haley? Was that it? He thought back over the last couple of months and realised that Lucas was probably right. Then he began to think about how much his life would change if things progressed further between Haley and that gym guy. Most of Haley's time would be taken up with the prick and where would that leave him? Burying himself in even more work? He realised then how pathetic his life was and decided that he desperately needed a drink. He didn't want to admit to himself that he was about to drown in his sorrows or admit defeat, but that's exactly what it felt like he was about to do.

Haley couldn't stop giggling at Ryan. They had just been to the cinema, having seen what he described as a 'typical girly film', and he kept on doing really bad, but really funny impressions of the two main characters. Haley picked up her wine glass and shook her head at him as she tried to get her giggling under control. "It really wasn't as bad as you're making out, Ryan," she said, trying to reason with him. She raised the wine glass up to her lips and took a sip, smiling at the waiter who came over to clear their plates.

Ryan couldn't keep his eyes off Haley as he watched her take a delicate sip of her wine, barely noticing the waiter who was busy asking if they wanted to see the dessert menu. He nodded his head at him in an e

ffort to get him the hell away from the table as quickly as possible, and watched as Haley began to run her finger around the rim of her glass. He wasn't sure why he found that so sexy, but he did. He heard Haley clear her throat and he raised his eyes up to meet hers, finding her staring at him, waiting for him to answer the question he had forgotten she had asked. He leaned back in his chair and took a deep breath, hoping to clear his head of all the thoughts which were racing through it. "I'm sorry, but it really was, Haley. It was the most predictable film I have ever seen in my life. The acting was appalling and don't even get me started on the script..."

Haley shook her head at him as she continued to absentmindedly trace her finger around her wine glass. She could see that Ryan was staring at her rather strangely, and she was grateful when the waiter returned to the table to hand them both the dessert menu, distracting him from gazing at her. She opened hers up quickly, her eyes devouring the selection on offer. "Oh my gosh, it all looks so good! I really don't know what to have!" she said, deciding she was going to try to choose by process of elimination.

Ryan cast his eyes down to his own menu, smiling at how childlike Haley seemed at the thought of dessert. He found it really endearing. He raised his eyes up from his menu to glance at her again, smiling even wider when he saw her concentrating extremely hard on deciding what she wanted. "Why don't you choose two desserts, Haley, and then we can share?" he offered.

Haley glanced up from her menu, currently trying to decide between the chocolate torte and the vanilla panna cotta. Ryan's suggestion of them sharing desserts meant that she wouldn't have to choose between the two, which she knew would be a near impossibility, but she wasn't sure if he would like her two choices. "No, Ryan, please, you choose your own, you might not like what I want," she responded. Also, she didn't want to seem like a pig in front of him.

"Well, what are you torn between?" Ryan asked and grinned when Haley bit down on her lip, clearly wanting to take him up on his offer. At that moment, the waiter came over and asked if they had made their choices. Keeping his gaze locked with Haley's, Ryan gestured with his hands towards her. "I'm letting her pick."

Haley continued to stare at him, wanting to make sure that it was okay for her to order for the both of them. She saw Ryan nod his head, letting her know that he was fine with it, and she then turned her attention to the waiter. "Can we get the chocolate torte and the vanilla panna cotta, please?" she asked, and watched as the waiter smiled and wrote the order down on his notepad. She closed her menu and handed it to the waiter, watching as Ryan did the same, and the waiter then left the table.

"Good choices, Haley," Ryan said as he smiled over at her. "I'm totally eating most of that chocolate torte though!"

"Oh you so are not, you're going to have to fight me for it!" Haley responded, her eyes wide with incredulity. If he seriously thought he was eating even a bite more of that dessert than she was he was clearly mistaken.

"Really?" Ryan challenged Haley, raising his eyebrow at her.

Haley could see the glint of mischief in Ryan's eyes, and she felt this incredibly strange jolt of anticipation run right through her body. She was rather bewildered by that feeling, because it felt very similar to how she felt when Nathan looked at her in that hungry way of his, right before he touched her on a Saturday night. However, not wanting to dwell on Nathan at all this evening, instead wanting to enjoy Ryan's company, she pushed that comparison out of her head and decided to play along with Ryan, after all, what would be the harm. "Really," Haley responded. She was surprised by the husky tone of her voice, and felt rather thrilled that Ryan's eyes darkened considerably.

Ryan nearly choked on absolutely nothing when he heard the sultry tone of Haley's voice. He was rather taken aback that she had answered him like she had, it seemed so out of character to how she normally spoke with him. Sure, they bantered with each other, but if he wasn't mistaken, he'd definitely say that she was flirting with him right now. He knew he should say something clever back, something that would continue this path of conversation, but he was slightly lost for words. Realising that he needed to say something quickly, he said the first thing that came into his head. "Well, I'll have to take you up on that then." As soon as the words left his mouth, he realised that they made no sense whatsoever, and he felt like banging his head against the table at how stupid his response had been.

Haley giggled lightly at Ryan's reply and took her wine glass in her hands before taking a sip so that her glass was now empty. She placed it back down on the table and chewed on her bottom lip, unsure of how to respond to his funny reply.

Ryan saw that Haley had finished her glass of wine and so, pleased that he could focus on something other than his pathetic response, he reached into the wine cooler placed at the side of their table and poured her another glass of wine, before topping his own glass up. He looked over at Haley and could see that she was playing with her lip again, and he desperately wanted to save them both from the slightly awkward silence he could feel descending on them. "I'm really enjoying spending time with you, Haley," he said honestly, placing the bottle back in the wine cooler and then returning his gaze to hers. He watched that lovely blush cover her cheeks, and fought the urge to reach across the table and cover her hand with his.

Haley could feel her cheeks burning because of what Ryan had just said to her. It felt rather strange, receiving a compliment from him which wasn't connected to how far or fast she had run. But it still caused something warm to stir in her stomach. She held his gaze, seeing the sincerity of his words and glanced down at the table, reaching both her hands over to her wine glass so that she could fiddle with the stem. Raising her eyes up slowly to meet his again, she took a deep breath. "So am I," she responded, surprising herself because she actually meant what she was saying. It wasn't that she didn't think she'd have a good time with Ryan, it was the fact that she hadn't really been on a date with anyone since the whole Chase disaster. She didn't count going out for dinner with Nathan because none of those meals had felt like a date, they had just felt normal. Tonight though, she had all that nervous energy flowing through her system, and it felt like she was being acquainted with an old friend again. She'd forgotten how good the anticipation felt, how fun it was.

Ryan couldn't help the smile which covered his face as he heard Haley's words. He slowly began to move his hand across the table, wanting to prize one of Haley's off her wineglass and hold it in his own. He was sure he looked incredibly foolish, for his hand was moving across the linen so slowly, but he wasn't sure if she would want to hold his hand, and if she moved them away from the wine glass for whatever reason, then he wanted to be able to retract his hands with as little bother as possible. and save what he could of his pride.

Haley could see something moving out of the corner of her eye, and she surreptitiously dropped her gaze to the tablecloth, seeing Ryan's hand slowly making its way towards hers. She gasped for some completely unknown reason. Then the anticipation rushed through her body, and she found herself wondering what his hands would feel like. Would they be smooth, or rough, how would his fingers feel when they interlaced with her own? She bit down on her lip as she pondered whether she wanted to actually hold hands with Ryan like that, because it meant something, holding hands across a table with someone. It meant you thought of them as more than your gym training buddy, possibly even more than as a friend? She was shocked to learn that she wanted his hand to get to hers, she was so caught up in the anticipation of it all, she was actually wishing that his hand would get to hers faster.

Haley wasn't moving her hand away, and Ryan had seen her glance down at his hand, so she knew it was coming. But he also saw her bite down on her lip, like she was considering moving her hand away because she didn't want him touching her. He was slightly confused by the mixed signals, but he took the fact that she hadn't actually moved her hand away as a good thing, and so proceeded. He managed to make it across what he considered to be the halfway point, and still her hands were wrapped around her wine glass, which was definitely a good sign. And right when he was about to reach his fingers out towards hers, the waiter announced that their desserts were ready, and he snapped his hand back across to his lap so fast he wasn't even sure he had actually done it.

Haley surprised herself yet again at the disappointment she felt when Ryan took his hand away from hers. Had she really wanted him to hold her hand that much? Evidently, she had. She wasn't entirely sure what this all meant, it had been so long since she had found herself in a situation like this, she wasn't really sure what the myriad of emotions she felt rolling around in her stomach meant. She realised then that she was severely out of practice in this dating game. But any doubts she was starting to have were erased entirely when she saw the waiter place the chocolate torte and vanilla panna cotta down in the middle of the table, with two spoons on each plate for her and Ryan to share.

Ryan really wanted to punch the waiter square in the jaw for interrupting them. He had literally been within about an inch of touching her, but when he glanced up and saw the delight in Haley's eyes, his anger softened and then evaporated completely all in the space of about two seconds. He then looked down at the desserts and saw that the chocolate torte looked absolutely delicious, and so, deciding to play with Haley a little bit, he quickly grabbed the plate of chocolate torte and moved it over to his side of the table, pushing the vanilla panna cotta over to Haley.

Haley watched incredulously as Ryan nabbed the chocolate torte and pushed the other plate towards her, like he was going to eat it all himself. Her jaw then dropped open as she watched him dig right in, making all kinds of yummy noises as he stuffed the large chuck of torte into his mouth.

The torte tasted divine. "Oh, God, this is good," Ryan said, not only because it was true but also because he knew it would wind Haley up even more. He dug his fork back into the torte and then raised his eyes to meet hers. He had to bite back the grin he could feel threatening to cover his face as he took in her exasperated expression, like she was actually going to kill him if he took so much as another bite. Instead, he nodded down at the panna cotta. "Aren't you going to eat yours?" He then lifted his fork which had his second bit of torte placed on it up to his mouth.

"Hold it right there, Ryan," Haley said in a deadly serious voice, watching, thankfully, as Ryan's fork stopped just as he'd opened his mouth to stuff the heaped fork of torte into his mouth for a second time. She watched as he looked at her with a puzzled expression on his face, as if he didn't see anything wrong with him enjoying the torte all to himself, and leaving her with just the panna cotta. "I thought we were sharing?"

Ryan actually thought for a second that she was going to hurt him, severely, but he couldn't resist teasing her. He loved it when she got all fiery and angry, he thought it was cute. "What do you mean, share?" he asked, as if they hadn't had their discussion about sharing desserts earlier on while they were ordering them.

"Oh, don't give me that, you said I could pick and we'd share them both, and if you think I am sacrificing my half of that yummy looking torte, then you're mad. Now put the damn fork back on the plate and move it back to the middle of the table, or else I'm going to get really mad, and trust me, you don't want to see that, not where dessert is involved," Haley said in an incredibly serious and dangerous tone.

Ryan couldn't help but chuckle at her, she sounded absolutely ridiculous. He then looked up to find that Haley was still staring at him like she was going to poke him in the eye with the fork he still had in his hands if he didn't do what she said. "I'm only kidding, Haley!" he said as she shook his head at her, continuing to chuckle at how protective she was about her desserts.

"Well, you've learnt not to kid around where chocolate is concerned, haven't you. Especially when me and chocolate are concerned," Haley said while she watched in satisfaction as Ryan did exactly as she asked, and placed his fork back down on the plate with the huge chuck on torte still on it, moving it back to the centre of the table so that they could share, as agreed.

Ryan smiled as he watched Haley tuck into her desserts. She looked like a kid who had just been told that they could eat the whole of the chocolate isle in a supermarket. Watching as she placed the fork of torte in her mouth, he couldn't help but think about those luscious lips of hers, completely enthralled by the way they closed around her fork. Her eyes practically rolled to the back of her head and she made this noise which caused some very naughty thoughts to run through his head...

"God you weren't kidding, this is so damn good," Haley moaned as she tasted the torte.

Ryan gulped, but any effort to dispel those thoughts from his mind were rendered useless when Haley continued to make those fantastic noises. "Nope, I wasn't at all," he said, completely and utterly distracted.

The rest of the meal had passed and much to Haley's dislike, Ryan had insisted on paying the bill for both of them. She smiled over at him once she had polished off her glass of wine and placed it back down on the table.

"You good to go?" Ryan asked, having only just managed to calm his thoughts down and turn them to far less risky ones. He watched as Haley nodded her head and he pushed his chair back from the table, seeing Haley do the same before they walked out of the restaurant.

Ryan had chosen to take them on a little detour, and for that Haley was glad because she didn't want to go home just yet, she was having too much of a good time with Ryan for the night to be over already. He was currently telling her a story about this funny woman at the gym who he'd had to induct during the week. Apparently she had worn completely inappropriate clothing and had popped out of her top.

"I honestly didn't know where the hell to look, and she acted like it was no big deal, it was just so bizarre!" Ryan said.

"Oh gosh, I would have completely died of embarrassment," Haley returned, giggling to herself.

"I practically did, in fact, I think I was probably embarrassed enough for the both of us!" Ryan responded. He sighed as Haley's giggling ebbed and they fell into companionable, comfortable silence. Both of their arms were swinging at their sides, and before he over thought what he planned to do next, before he managed to talk himself out of it, he grabbed Haley's hand when he next passed hers, and linked his fingers with hers. He released the breath he hadn't realised he had been holding when after a couple of seconds she hadn't moved her hand away, and he glanced over towards her at the exact same time she decided to look at him. She smiled the cutest smile at him and he returned it, a wave of utter joy practically flooding him entirely.

His had felt completely different to Nathan's. It was the only male hand Haley could really compare Ryan's to because she had long forgotten what Chase's had felt like. It was smaller than Nathan's and felt a tad rougher than his, probably due to all the gym work he did every day. She was glad he was holding her hand though, it felt nice.

Ryan wasn't exactly sure where they were walking to. They were just wandering around some nice neighbourhood, still walking in silence. He really liked the feel of Haley's hand in his, and hoped it would be something he could do more often. They turned a corner and were met with a cluster of trees which had twinkling fairly lights wrapped up around them. He smiled when he heard Haley gasp beside him, and stopped their walking so that they could admire the trees some more.

Haley loved fairly lights. They always reminded her of Christmas, which was without any doubt her favourite time of year. She was so lost in her thoughts of presents, Christmas trees and carols, she barely noticed Ryan's hand move up to caress her cheek, and it wasn't until her eyes registered his mouth coming closer and closer to hers that she realised what was happening. He was going to kiss her.

The amber liquid didn't burn when it moved down Nathan's throat anymore. It had stopped burning a long time ago. He tried to remember whether this was his sixth or seventh scotch, but he truly had no idea. It could be scotch number seventy for all he knew. But that couldn't be possible, because if he had drunk seventy shots of scotch, he would probably be dead. He chuckled as he thought of this, swirling the remaining liquid around in his glass clumsily, frowning when some of it spilled over the sides, before downing it.

"You, my friend, need some water."

Nathan turned his head and was surprised to find Sarah sitting on the bar stool next to him. He'd been so wrapped up in his thoughts of drinking seventy glasses of scotch, he'd forgotten that she was there.

"In fact, I think I need some water too. How many of these have we had?" Sarah asked, wrinkling her eyebrows together as she tried to remember.

"I have no idea," Nathan responded as he plonked his glass down on the counter of the bar. He desperately wanted another, but maybe Sarah was right, maybe they should have some water. But then he remembered that water didn't taste of anything, and scotch tasted much better than nothing.

Nathan had tumbled out of his office in a fit of rage after his conversation with Lucas, and he'd stumbled into this bar on the way back to the apartment. He couldn't remember the name of it right now, but it was one he'd never been in before, one he was sure where he wouldn't bump into anyone he knew. He wanted that, the anonymity, so that he could lick his wounds in peace. But two drinks in, Sarah had turned up, and she hadn't left his side since. He was kind of glad about that, because he'd actually wanted the company, not that he'd have admitted that to himself before.

"So, I was working last night at the bar, and you," Sarah said as she pointed her finger into Nathan's chest, "weren't there."

Nathan glanced down at the hand she had placed on his chest, confused about what it was doing there. "I know, I was busy," he said without looking up at her, his gaze fixed completely on that hand of hers on his chest. He didn't know if he wanted her to move it or not.

"Busy doing what?" Sarah asked.

"Work," Nathan responded.

Sarah took a deep breath as she flattered her hand out on Nathan's chest, pleased that he hadn't backed away from her. He felt good under her fingertips, she could feel how toned he was underneath his t-shirt. "That's a shame. I was a bit upset that you weren't there. I'd been looking forward to seeing you."

Nathan closed his eyes as he felt her hand flatten out on his chest and then her fingers began to move around in circles over his t-shirt. The only person who had touched him like that recently was Haley, and he wasn't sure if he liked the feel of these alien fingers on his chest. But then his mind reminded him that Haley was out on a date with some bastard, and he suddenly felt this heat rush through his body, and he wasn't completely sure if it was out of anger, or due to the fact that Sarah had just run her finger around his nipple. Before he knew what he was doing, he reached his hand down to stop her movement, and locked his gaze with hers. He saw something move out of the corner of his eye and he dropped his gaze, seeing her tongue move out to lick her lips. Subconsciously, he leaned towards her, his eyes trained completely on that mouth of hers, and he realised that she was leaning towards him too. He couldn't help but wonder if she'd feel different than Haley did.

Haley stared through the window, hardly able to believe what she was seeing. She had to turn away, and she found herself running towards the apartment, because there was no way in hell she could watch that. She couldn't watch Nathan kissing that girl from the bar. She wanted to get home as quickly as her feet could carry her, but she had to stop at the nearest trash can, heaving as she vomited into it. In her slightly drunken state, she slumped onto the ground, and it wasn't until she saw the dots land on her white sundress that she realised she was crying.

**AN – I know, that was evil. Feel free to vent in a review! :o) But please do trust me...**

**I promise to send out a teaser much sooner to those of you who want it this time – just let me know in a review if you do and I will get it to you as soon as I've written it.**

**Also, I think I am up to date with chapter 11 extended scene requests, but if I have missed you, then let me know and I'll get it out to you.**

**There will also be a teaser pic on the blog at some point for the next chapter, so keep an eye out for it ;o).**


	15. Chapter 15

**AN – It's been too long again, I know. I hope this long chapter kind of makes up for the wait.**

**I really do want to say a big thank you to all of you who reviewed the last chapter. You're kind words never fail to put a smile on my face! **

**As per usual I also want to say a couple of words to those of you without accounts who took the time to review – **Rachel –** I'm sorry about the ending of the last chapter but hopefully this long one makes up for it! I hope you like the update! **Sophiaaaa – **I hope you got the email with the teaser, and I'm so pleased you enjoyed the last update! I hope you enjoy the new chapter too! **Lou – **Hopefully this chapter answers some of your questions! Hope you like the update! **Ann – **Sorry it took so long for me to update again... and I hope you enjoy reading this chapter! **Dancinfeet89 – **Sorry I couldn't send you the teaser, your email address didn't show up! I'm so pleased you enjoyed the chapter and hope you like the update! **Toystory – **I'm sorry I kept you waiting so long but I hope you enjoy the chapter! **Sarah – **So pleased to hear you enjoyed reading the last update and I hope you like this one too! **Anon – **It's so nice to hear that you enjoyed reading the story, and thank you for your lovely words. I hope you like the new chapter! **Ar24 – **I'm so glad you were pleased to see the update, and that you can see both sides of the coin. I hope you like this chapter! **Kaefoster – **I hope you got the teaser and I'm glad you're enjoying the story. Hope you like the update! **Naley87 – **So pleased you liked the last chapter, and I hope you enjoy the update! **Someone Somewhere – **I'm so glad you like the plot and the story! I hope you enjoy the new chapter! **Lili – **So pleased you enjoyed reading the last chapter and hope you like the update! **NaleyFanAlwaysForever – **I'm so glad you liked the last chapter, and the tension between Nathan and Haley too! I hope you like the new chapter! **Krista – **I'm glad you're enjoying the story and sorry for the long waits between chapters. I hope you like the new update! **Weens – **I'm so pleased to read that you're enjoying the story and Nathan and Haley's relationship. Hope you like this new chapter! **Fascinated – **I'm so pleased you are enjoying the story, and that you're excited to learn more about where it's going. I hope you like reading this update! **Rebecca.W – **I'm so pleased to hear you're a fan of this story and I hope you enjoy the new chapter! **Tlovesnaley2 – **So glad to hear you're enjoying the story, and I hope you like the update! **Rachael – **So pleased you're liking the story, and I'm glad you're excited for the update, I hope you enjoy reading it. **

**A big thank you also goes out to Sharon, Anniiyy and Kristen for reading through this chapter for me before I posted :o).**

**A reminder of where we were... from the last chapter:**

_Nathan closed his eyes as he felt her hand flatten out on his chest and then her fingers began to move around in circles over his t-shirt. The only person who had touched him like that recently was Haley, and he wasn't sure if he liked the feel of these alien fingers on his chest. But then his mind reminded him that Haley was out on a date with some bastard, and he suddenly felt this heat rush through his body, and he wasn't completely sure if it was out of anger, or due to the fact that Sarah had just run her finger around his nipple. Before he knew what he was doing, he reached his hand down to stop her movement, and locked his gaze with hers. He saw something move out of the corner of his eye and he dropped his gaze, seeing her tongue move out to lick her lips. Subconsciously, he leaned towards her, his eyes trained completely on that mouth of hers, and he realised that she was leaning towards him too. He couldn't help but wonder if she'd feel different than Haley did._

_Haley stared through the window, hardly able to believe what she was seeing. She had to turn away, and she found herself running towards the apartment, because there was no way in hell she could watch that. She couldn't watch Nathan kissing that girl from the bar. She wanted to get home as quickly as her feet could carry her, but she had to stop at the nearest trash can, heaving as she vomited into it. In her slightly drunken state, she slumped onto the ground, and it wasn't until she saw the dots land on her white sundress that she realised she was crying._

**Chapter Fifteen**

The big, fat raindrops fell angrily from the sky; their repeated smacks on the sidewalk created a vast noise which almost drowned out the familiar New York late evening sounds entirely. Nathan clumsily hurried along the streets, desperately wanting to get home and cursing his slightly intoxicated state. With his shoulders hunched and his hands stuffed in his pockets, he did his best to avoid the large puddles but it seemed the relentless rain had created a chaotic river instead of organised pools of water on the ground.

The water rushed down his face, soaking his t-shirt entirely so that it clung to his body. He could barely see three feet in front of him, and the fact that his eyelashes were clumping together meant that his already impaired vision became incredibly blurry. Finally, he rounded the last corner and rushed up the steps to the apartment, pressing the buzzer with his elbow in the hope that Haley was at home, because he couldn't be bothered to search himself to find his keys.

He impatiently held the button down, trying to find shelter underneath the entrance, but the angle of the rain meant he wasn't spared another splattering of water. After a good two minutes of buzzing up, he let out a long sigh and leaned his forehead on the wooden door, wondering why the hell absolutely nothing was going his way this evening.

He mulled the entire week over in his head, pissed off with himself that he had been so miserable and was now feeling ridiculously sorry for himself. He knew the root cause of his misery; it was because he hadn't been talking to his best friend. He smiled briefly at the thought of Haley, but the smile was quickly replaced with a fierce scowl when he remembered what she had been doing tonight.

Realising that she might not be answering the door because she was still out with the prick, he wrenched his hands out of his pockets and patted himself down as he tried to locate his keys. Finally finding them in his back pocket, he hastily opened the door and rushed up the stairs, hopeful that he would find Haley peacefully asleep in her bed.

He rushed through the front door as soon as he managed to open it and raced down the corridor towards Haley's room, nearly falling flat on his face as he tripped over a pair of his own shoes. He slowed down to a halt when he reached her closed bedroom door and silently prayed that she was inside. Taking extra care to be quiet, because if she was sleeping he certainly didn't want to wake her, even though the running through the apartment ought to have done that anyway, he slowly opened her door. He peered through the small gap and squinted through the darkness, trying to make out her slight figure lying on her bed.

"Fuck," he muttered as he swung the door open completely, feeling his stomach sink. She wasn't in her bed, which meant that she was still out with the prick from the gym. He stared at her empty bed for a good few seconds before he turned around and dragged himself back down the hallway to the kitchen.

Slumping himself down in one of the chairs by the table, he lowered his head into his hands. He could feel the beginnings of a headache coming on, and though he knew it was most likely from consuming far too much alcohol this evening, he couldn't help but wonder if the current situation he found himself in with Haley was making him feel that much worse.

Lifting his head, he glanced up at the clock on the wall and was surprised to see that it was now past one in the morning. He couldn't help but feel slightly concerned because Haley still wasn't home. Pulling his phone out of his pocket, he placed it down on the table and debated with himself for a while. He didn't want to appear all overprotective and overbearing, because that surely wouldn't help the current situation he was stuck in with Haley; but on the other hand, he really was genuinely concerned about her whereabouts. Not wanting to even consider the fact that she might not be coming home at all, he pursed his lips and tentatively reached out his hand to press the speed dial button which would call Haley's phone.

He grabbed his phone and lifted it to his ear, hearing the ring run right through to her voicemail message. He disconnected the call as soon as he heard her voice, not wanting to leave a message because there would be no way in hell that she'd call him back anyway, not when she was stuck in her current mood.

* * *

Haley completely lost track of time as she sat crumbled on the pavement sobbing her heart out. She cried until she literally felt like she couldn't possibly have any tears left. However, they somehow continued to fall down her soft cheeks. She stared ahead, looking at absolutely nothing, finding herself lost in a world where Nathan had found someone else, and she felt like her heart was shattering into a thousand and one pieces inside her chest.

She knew she shouldn't do this, but she couldn't stop herself from thinking about what she had just seen. Images of Nathan leaning towards Sarah, the girl she had ironically been trying to set him up with a while back, swirled continuously through her brain. She tried desperately hard to dismiss these thoughts from her head but the images were sticking to every cell inside of her like a thick fog, stubborn and unrelenting. She felt dwarfed by the darkness which was consuming her and she suddenly felt very angry that she was being made to feel like this.

White hot fire seared its way through her veins, painting her skin a dangerous shade of red. She felt her whole body begin to shake, and as she glanced down at her white dress through her blurry vision, she saw that it was no longer pale and innocent as it had been earlier on in the evening, but was now spoiled and ruined, a dirty shade of grey. The dress was the perfect metaphor for how she felt her relationship with Nathan had changed. She wasn't sure things could ever be the same again.

That thought made her feel sick and her hands twisted in the skirt of her dress, angrily pulling at the material. She couldn't understand why she felt so bitter about this. Surely she should be happy about this new development. If Nathan had found someone who made him happy, then wasn't it her duty as his best friend to feel happiness for him? She knew it was, but yet she couldn't bring herself to feel that way and this confused her deeply.

She wasn't sure how long she had been sitting on the ground, but when she finally realised that she was no closer to finding answers to all of the annoying questions which were milling around in her head, she decided that she should probably start to head home.

* * *

Nathan was pacing. He gripped his mobile phone in his hand and screamed out in complete agitation when, once again, Haley's phone rang right through to voicemail. He was getting seriously worried now over her whereabouts. Glancing up at the clock on the wall, he could see that it was ten past three in the morning, and he had no idea where she was. All sorts of horrid thoughts ran through his brain. Should he start calling the local hospitals to see if she had been brought in? Should he call the police and report her missing? Should he just go to bed and face up to the fact that she was having a sleepover with the punk that was stupidly training her for a God damn marathon? He ran his free hand through his hair in frustration, wondering if he was overreacting slightly. He managed to convince himself that he wasn't. He wasn't jealous; he was worried because this behaviour wasn't normal for her. He was jolted from trying to convince himself of this fact when he heard a key in the door, and he quickly rushed through to the hallway, feeling a thousand times lighter because he knew that this had to be her coming home at last.

Haley closed the door behind her, and the moment her eyes fell on Nathan, who was rushing along the hallway towards her, she felt her stomach begin to churn again. She moved her eyes away from him, unable to even look at him. She was completely thrown by this adverse reaction she was having to him, because it was so foreign for her to be feeling like this. She knew it was jealously rushing through her body, but she couldn't help the way she felt, especially when all she could see was him kissing Sarah. The image was burned deeply into her brain and it wouldn't budge, no matter how hard she tried to erase it. The fact that she was feeling like this caused her to tremble with rage and frustration, and she didn't even realise that the tears had started to fall down her cheeks again. All she wanted to do was crawl into bed and hide underneath the covers, because she really did feel that ashamed about how she was currently feeling.

Nathan stopped dead in his tracks when he reached the hallway, and his mouth dropped open in complete and utter shock. His eyes roamed rapidly over Haley's body and face, wondering what the hell had happened to her. Her dress was absolutely filthy and dishevelled, and he could see that she was crying. She was soaking wet, much like he had been earlier, and she looked like she'd been dragged through a hedge backwards. He was trying to catch her eye but she wasn't looking at him, instead she was staring vacantly at the wall to the right of where he was standing. His first instinct was to reach out and offer her comfort. He wanted to wrap her up in his arms and tell her that everything was okay, that he was here and that they would sort whatever the hell had happened to her out. He took a big step forward, closing the distance between them, wanting to get to her as quickly as possible, but then her eyes flashed to his and locked intently with his gaze, and he felt like she was burning him with the look of disgust she was giving him. He took a small step backwards in shock, but then reached out his hand, intending to brush it up and down her soaking wet and dirty arm.

As soon as Haley felt Nathan's hand touch her skin, she jumped away from him as if he'd given her an electric shock or something. She didn't want his hands, hands that had undoubtedly been on some other woman's body, to touch her at all. It made her feel sick. "Don't you dare touch me," she hissed at him. She couldn't bear to be standing here in the hallway with him, her head still swarming with images of him and Sarah in various states of undress. She felt disgusted as the thought that they could have potentially done something in the same bed that she had been sleeping with him in. She swallowed thickly and knew she needed to get out of here, and so she quickly turned on her heel and headed down the hallway towards her bedroom.

Nathan was rooted to the spot as he watched Haley walk away from him towards her bedroom. Was she seriously not even going to offer him any explanation as to what had happened to her? He quickly tried to piece together the puzzle in his head, but all he knew was that she had been out with the prick. All of a sudden, a feeling of complete and utter dread coursed its way through his veins, and he began to shake with fury. "Did that asshole do this to you?" he called out after her, gritting his teeth together and clenching his fists as he awaited her answer.

Haley stopped walking towards her room, and her shoulders slumped when she heard Nathan's voice wobble as he called out to her. She almost wanted to laugh at him for assuming that Ryan had made her feel like this. She shook her head and continued to walk to her room, unsure of who she was more upset with, him or herself.

Nathan growled in frustration when he heard Haley's bedroom door slam shut. She hadn't answered his question. Was he supposed to take that as a yes or a no? He couldn't think of anything else which could have happened which would have made her come home in such a state, and the fury bubbled ferociously underneath his skin. He stood in the hallway as he tried to formulate a plan in his head and also think about another plausible explanation. After a good five minutes of thinking about it, he decided that there wasn't one. The prick had to have done something to her. He couldn't even think about what that was, because he was afraid he would explode if he did, and he acted completely on impulse as he warded off the terrible images that were battling to set up camp in his head. He grabbed his wallet and his keys from the table and slammed the door to the apartment shut behind him. He was going to teach that fucker a lesson. No one messed with Haley and got away with it, not after what that bastard Chase had done to her.

* * *

Nathan only became aware that the gym didn't open until seven o'clock in the morning once he arrived outside of the building. He looked at his watch and saw that it was half past three in the morning. He was that shaken up and angry that he clearly hadn't been thinking straight. It was now Sunday morning which is why the gym opened an hour later than usual. He was absolutely seething, and paced along the front door for a good ten minutes, before he realised that he still had about three hours to go before the gym opened. He sat himself down on the step and jigged his leg on the ground, because he just couldn't seem to keep still. He didn't even feel tired, despite the fact that he had been up the whole night. All the alcohol he'd consumed earlier had worn off completely. He felt stone cold sober, but that may have been because of what he thought Haley had just gone through.

Time passed incredibly slowly and he glanced up each time someone walked past him, hoping that it was the prick he was waiting for, or at least someone who was going to be opening up the gym so he could ask what time they expected Ryan to start work. Eventually, he saw a young woman walk towards him, looking at him curiously. He smiled sheepishly at her, because he was sure they didn't usually have members waiting outside for the gym to open on a Sunday morning. He shuffled out of the way so that she could open the locked door and stood up, stretching his muscles out before turning around and following her inside.

"Can I help you with anything?"

Nathan walked over to the reception desk and leaned over, trying to find a timetable or a staff rota or something, so that he could find out when Ryan was expected to show up, if at all. He couldn't spot anything, and so he turned back around to face the woman who had opened the place up. "Is Ryan due in today?" he asked her, hoping that there wouldn't be some silly staff protocol thing which meant that she couldn't tell him. He flashed her one of his signature smiles, because she was looking at him as if he were slightly crazy, and he moved his eyes over her body briefly, acting as if he were interested in her. He watched as she slowly began to smile back at him, and he knew he had her now.

"He should be here in a minute. Shall I let him know you're waiting for him?"

Nathan felt like doing a victory dance as she gave him the information he needed. He managed to play it cool though and smiled over at her again. "No, it's fine. I'll just catch up with him later," he said, not wanting Ryan to know that he was here. He wanted to use the element of surprise, which should help to drill the message that he came here to deliver to him home much more effectively. He then reached into his wallet and pretended to look for his pass. "Damn."

"What's up?"

"I left my pass at home. You couldn't let me through, could you?" he asked, moving his gaze back over to her and placing his wallet in his back pocket. He leant back casually against the desk, appraising her, or at least pretending to. She looked like a complete bimbo, long blonde hair with blue eyes which were layered with fake eyelashes, and she had orange skin, obviously covered in far too much fake tan.

"Sure."

Bingo. Nathan watched as she swayed her hips and walked to the other side of the desk, letting him through the barrier. He shook his head at how easy that had been. He continued to walk along the corridor, wondering where the best place for him to wait for the prick was. He ignored the bimbo's question which echoed along the empty corridor he was walking down. There was no way in hell he was going to give her his name, he had no intention of even looking at her ever again.

After a little exploring, Nathan turned the corner and found the staff room. He smiled in triumph because surely this would be the perfect place for a little ambush. He appraised the area and decided that it would be, just as long as the prick didn't come down here with anybody else. It was far enough away from the main areas so he wouldn't have to worry about being interrupted.

About a minute later, Nathan vaguely heard a familiar voice as it laughed and joked with someone. He heard the female voice mention Ryan's name and he backed himself up against the wall in preparation. As soon as he heard what he hoped were Ryan's footsteps coming up to the corner he was hiding behind, he stepped out and came face to face with the bastard. Complete and utter loathing for him boiled ferociously through his body, and he saw Ryan's expression change from blissfully happy to totally confused in about half a second.

Ryan remembered this guy as being the dude Haley lived with, her best friend Nathan, and he was completely shocked that he was standing in front of him. He took in his incredibly aggressive demeanour and instantly felt like running away. Though as if he had read his mind, before he could even move a muscle, he felt two big, strong hands grip onto his t-shirt and drag him around the secluded corner, before he was slammed against the wall. "Dude, what the fuck?" he said in a surprised tone when he felt one of Nathan's hands press harshly along the top of his chest, pinning him rather effectively against the wall.

"What did you do to her, huh?" Nathan spat at him. His face was right up against his, and he could feel the fear and bewilderment rolling off Ryan in waves. But Nathan knew better than this, he knew what sick things he'd done to his best friend, and he wasn't going to relent until he got the whole truth from him, because it was clear from the way Haley had acted earlier that she was in no fit state to talk to him about it.

"I don't know what the hell or who you're talking about," Ryan responded. He was pretty sure that Haley's best friend was crazy. He definitely needed to be carted off to the nearest mental hospital, because he literally had no clue as to what he was questioning him about. He tried to wiggle himself free but he felt Nathan push into his chest even harder, making it a little bit difficult for him to breathe.

Nathan shook his head at Ryan's cowardice. The very least he could do was man up and admit to what he had done. But he guessed he was going to have to spell it out for him. "Haley. Who the fuck do you think you are, laying your disgusting hands on her…" he started, but was soon cut off by a blubbering Ryan who was trying to say something to him. He relaxed the pressure of his hand on his chest and saw him breath deeply in relief.

"I don't know what you're going on about. I never touched her like that! I tried to kiss her but she turned away from me… then we kind of called it a night. I walked her down Third Avenue for a bit, and she said she could walk the last few blocks home by herself so we said goodnight," Ryan said quickly, wanting to get all of his words out rapidly, so that he could be released from his position against the wall and get Nathan out of his face.

"What?" Nathan asked, wondering whether he should believe him or not. The bar they went to each week was on Third Avenue, and so Haley knew the route home well from there. If what Ryan was saying were true, he figured it was hardly likely that Haley would get attacked from between there and home because it was one of the safest neighbourhoods around and it was familiar territory for her. She walked that route on her own all the time. This just wasn't making any sense whatsoever to him.

"I swear to God, man, I didn't touch her like that, I'd never do anything like that," Ryan said, and then he suddenly realised that Nathan was here because something had obviously happened to Haley. "Why, what happened? Is she okay?"

Nathan's head was spinning. He looked Ryan right in the eyes and could see the panic residing there, which as far as he was concerned showed that he was actually telling him the truth. He really couldn't wrap his head around what had happened to her then, because nothing seemed to add up. She was only two or three blocks from home when Ryan had left her. He shook his head and realised that he needed to answer Ryan's question, so he released the grip he had on him and watched as he began to slide down the wall slightly, but then he remembered that he had been training Haley for that stupid marathon and that was the reason why he and her hadn't been talking for the last week. So he grabbed hold of both of his shoulders and picked him up off the ground, pushing him back against the wall again.

"What the fuck now?" Ryan muttered, and then instantly regretted his words when he saw the death glare that Nathan shot at him.

"She was anorexic, you know? It got so fucking bad that she ended up in hospital. If I so much as see your punk ass anywhere near our apartment, or training her for any sort of fucking marathon, I will kick your ass so hard you land on the moon. You got that?" Nathan said in a deadly voice. He pulled Ryan away from the wall when he didn't get a response and slammed him back against it so hard he watched as his eyes squeezed shut. "I said, have you got that?"

Ryan was shocked as he absorbed Nathan's words. He frowned because Haley had never mentioned that she had been hospitalised for anorexia. The last thing that she should be doing was training for a marathon, and he suddenly felt rather sick at the danger he had been putting her in. "I've got it," he said desolately. Nathan really did have nothing to worry about though, the last thing he'd be doing with Haley was training her like that, ever again. He then felt Nathan's hands release him from the wall, and he watched as he stormed off along the corridor towards the exit of the gym.

* * *

On Thursday evening, Haley found herself at Brooke and Lucas' apartment. The entire week felt like it had been a complete write off. She still wasn't speaking to Nathan, and she wasn't entirely sure why. She knew she was a little bit jealous of Sarah, but she couldn't seem to pin point the exact reason for her jealousy. She wanted it to purely be as simple as her not wanting to give up any of her best friend to another woman, but Nathan had plenty of girlfriends before and she'd never felt like this with them. She also knew that it wasn't anything to do with Sarah, because she hardly knew her and so it wasn't like she had some vendetta with her… so she was back at square one every single time she tried to analyse her feelings on the issue. Haley also blamed the whole silence with Nathan thing on her still being angry with him over the hospital appointment he'd booked for her, even though she knew that wasn't the case at all. It made her feel slightly less of a selfish bitch by doing so though.

Lucas entered the apartment and rolled his eyes when he heard Brooke nattering on to somebody about the dress she had bought over the weekend to wear at her company's ball next week, and he guessed that either they had company or she was on the phone. He walked into the dining room and found Haley there also. "Hello beautiful," he said as he walked over to Brooke and gave her a kiss on the lips, before turning his attention to Haley. "Brooke's totally boring the hell out of you, isn't she?"

Haley couldn't help but chuckle at Lucas' comment and laughed when Brooke slapped his arm playfully. "I wouldn't say that, the dress is gorgeous," she responded as she moved her eyes over to the door where Brooke had hung it up so that they could appreciate it fully.

"Well, I'm going to get some dinner on. Haley, are you staying?" Lucas asked as he wrapped his arms around Brooke's shoulders and placed a kiss on the top of her head.

"Are you sure you don't mind?" Haley asked. Lucas, unlike his brother, was an excellent cook, and her stomach was already rumbling at the mere thought of the delicious meal she was sure he was going to throw together.

"Nonsense, you're more than welcome," Brooke said. "And besides, I haven't shown you my shoes yet!"

Lucas shook his head in exasperation and mouthed a 'sorry' to Haley before he took his leave and got to work in the kitchen. He'd never understand how women could spend so long talking about what they were planning to wear. It baffled him completely.

Forty-five minutes later, Haley was tucking into a delicious stir fry. She had almost devoured her plate and couldn't get enough of what Lucas had made. She wondered why she thought that other people's cooking always tasted better than her own. She could never get her stir fries to taste this authentic.

Lucas, having already had seconds, placed his chop sticks down on his plate and patted his hand on his stomach, feeling absolutely stuffed. He saw Brooke roll her eyes at him, and he smiled back at her in return. "So, Haley, how's my brother doing? I've been trying to call him all week, but I have a feeling he's avoiding me."

Any appetite Haley had diminished as soon as she heard Nathan's name be mentioned. She'd been doing really well this evening, not really thinking about him at all since she'd arrived here, thanks to Brooke getting all excited about her dress and her shoes and them both generally sharing gossip with each other. She sighed heavily as her stomach once again began to twist uncomfortably, the sickening feeling returning. "He's probably too busy sucking face with Sarah," she muttered under her breath as she dropped her chopsticks down on her plate.

Brooke scrunched her eyebrows together. "What?" she said, almost shouting because she wasn't sure if she'd heard Haley right. "Nathan has a girlfriend?"

Lucas looked over at Haley with both of his eyebrows raised in complete and utter shock. His brother had a girlfriend and hadn't even bothered to tell him about it? What the hell was that about?

Haley shook her head at herself, wishing that she'd just kept her mouth shut. "I don't know if she's his girlfriend or not," she said quickly, because the last thing she wanted was to get Brooke all excited about this and then rat her out to Nathan. He hadn't even admitted this to her, she was only drawing her own conclusions based on what she saw him doing with Sarah on Saturday night.

"Well who is she?" Lucas asked, his interest raised completely. Nathan hadn't had a girlfriend, a proper girlfriend in ages; in fact, he actually couldn't remember how long it had been since he'd seen his brother with a regular girl on his arms.

"Sarah, you know that girl from the bar?" Haley answered, doing her best to keep the bitterness out of her voice. "I saw them together on Saturday night."

"Sarah, you mean that new waitress?" Brooke asked and watched as Haley nodded her head at her in confirmation. She was rather shocked that Nathan had actually done anything with her, but she shrugged and smiled. "I quite like her."

"Yeah, she seems quite nice. I wonder when we'll get to meet her properly?" Lucas pondered.

"Well we'll see them on Friday night, won't we, so we can ask him about it then," Brooke suggested.

"Does he seem happy?" Lucas asked, turning his focus back to Haley.

Haley lifted her head from where she had been staring at her food, catching Lucas' gaze. He seemed so hopeful that his brother had finally found some happiness, and she knew that she should be feeling exactly the same way, yet she still couldn't bring herself to feel pleased for him at all, even though she knew it made her a terrible person. She simply didn't want Nathan to be with Sarah, or anyone else at the moment. That was all. "Oh yeah, everything's just peachy," she responded, forcing a smile on her face. She then dropped her head again, lifting up her chopsticks so that she could play with her food a little and hopefully distract herself enough to get those horrible images of them both out of her head.

Brooke narrowed her eyes as she took in Haley's sarcastic smile, knowing instantly that everything wasn't peachy at all as far as her friend was concerned. Was it possible that she was jealous of Nathan? She wanted to question her about it but with Lucas there it made things rather awkward. As the silence descended upon the table, after two minutes or so Haley made her excuses and left, leaving Brooke feeling incredibly suspicious about the whole situation.

* * *

Nathan wasn't entirely sure how he got here. He'd woken up and realised that he had randomly booked today off, which is why it was much later in the morning than when he would usually get up on a Friday. He'd had a shower, got dressed and went for a walk, and somehow he'd ended up getting on a train and was now standing outside the cemetery where Lily was. He glanced up at the sky, wondering if he was led to come to this place because subconsciously he knew he needed to be here. He'd missed the female company he was used to having around him, seeing as Haley wasn't speaking to him at the moment, and so he'd somehow arrived here at his sister's grave.

He took a deep breath and stuffed his free hand in his pocket as he began to walk to the spot where she was laid to rest. He passed all the other graves, seeing the various flowers on display and the windmills and cards which were left by loved ones, and he felt the nervous energy build inside of him. He still wasn't sure how he'd feel once he saw her grave again; especially after how he'd broken down the last time he had been here. But he was determined, and more than that, he really did want to be here.

Instead of seeing this as a gloomy place filled with haunting memories, he began to see it as a peaceful place for reflection. He passed the pond and watched as a bird bathed in the fountain, which had been placed right in the middle of the water, before it flew off into the sky again. His eyes followed it until he was squinting so much from the sun which was beating down on Earth he had to look away again.

He eventually reached the site of his sister's grave and was pleasantly surprised at how calm he felt. Of course, there was a sadness there but the guilt he'd felt the last time he was here wasn't nearly as prominent now. He sat himself down on the grass and placed the sunflower he had brought from the florist opposite down on the ground next to the headstone.

He sat in silence for a good while, thinking about the happy and the not so happy times he'd had with Lily. Then he thought about the desperate state of his relationship with Haley at the moment, and he sighed heavily, his shoulders slumping forward with the heavy weight he could feel on them. He lifted his eyes and stared at the words on her headstone. He wanted to be able to talk to her, like Haley had when she had miraculously materialised the last time he had been here. But he felt silly and couldn't get the words out.

So instead he lost himself in his thoughts. He was so angry with himself for booking that stupid doctors appointment because that had been what had started this whole problematic situation with Haley. He should have sat her down and talked rationally with her about the marathon training, voiced his concerns and made her see that she was doing too much to her body. But he hadn't, he'd dragged her to the hospital instead. And then, after a week of torturous silence, she'd gone out on that date with Ryan, who even if he hadn't laid a hand on her was still a prick in his eyes, which had led to him being in the bar, getting stupidly drunk with Sarah. He quickly pushed thoughts of that evening out of his head, because then Haley had finally come back to the apartment looking like death, and he still hadn't managed to work out why that was. He was absolutely certain she hadn't been attacked, because she was going to work as normal and the brief times he had seen her this week, she hadn't had any marks or anything on her face or body. It was all one big mystery because the only thing that had happened since then which was slightly abnormal was the silence he'd been receiving from her just continued. Everything else was just like normal. She was chatting to Brooke and Peyton as per usual, going to work and watching TV and doing all the other stuff she used to do… it just didn't make any sense to him at all. And more than that, he desperately missed his best friend.

"God, Lils, I've completely messed everything up, again!" he cried out in frustration as he ran both of his hands through his hair and rested his elbows on his knees. He shook his head at his idiotic behaviour; this time he'd even managed to shock himself at how he'd acted.

"You've only been with her five minutes; don't tell me you've already screwed it up."

Nathan nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard his brother's voice behind him. Once he got over the initial shock and managed to calm his racing heart down slightly, he turned around and found Lucas standing behind him. Then he frowned as he processed his brother's words. "What the hell do you mean?" he asked, feeling utterly confused because what he had just said didn't make any sense.

Lucas had been incredibly surprised to find Nathan here, but also incredibly pleased. He didn't say anything about the fact that he'd come here of his own accord, or that his brother had brought a sunflower with him either, because he was just so relieved that he was finally seeing this as somewhere where he could feel comfortable and close with their sister, and that it wasn't somewhere to be feared. "Sarah. Unless you've been hiding your relationship with her for ages and we're only just finding out now," he responded with a smirk on his face. "Congratulations, man. I'm happy for you."

"My what?" Nathan responded bewilderedly, unsure of whether he'd heard his brother right or not. Lucas surely hadn't just said 'relationship' and 'Sarah' in the same sentence, had he?

Lucas frowned as he took in the puzzled expression on Nathan's face, and decided to explain himself. "Haley came over yesterday and said she saw you and Sarah at the bar on Saturday night. She made it sound as though you two were together…"

And suddenly, everything seemed to fall into place inside his head. Nathan jumped onto his feet and grinned triumphantly at his brother, who had unknowingly solved the huge conundrum which had been bothering him all week. Instantly, he knew he needed to get back to the apartment. "Did you drive here?" he asked his brother as he began to walk towards the exit.

"Yes… Nathan where are you going?" Lucas shouted after his brother. He was really confused about what was happening, because now he was watching his brother jog towards the exit. He'd only just got here himself, did Nathan want him to follow, or was he going to be allowed to spend some time with his sister first?

Nathan suddenly realised that it was a Friday afternoon, so it wouldn't be worth him driving back home, it'd take far too long with all the traffic which would be on the road. He'd be much better off getting the train. "Home. Don't worry, I'll get the train. Thanks, bro," he called over his shoulder, before he broke out into a full on run, wanting to get to the train station as quickly as he could.

* * *

Haley pushed on the revolving door to her building, wishing with all her might that it wasn't a Friday today. She'd had one hell of a week at work, but more exhausting than that was not speaking to Nathan. It had been nearly two weeks since they had been their normal selves, and she hadn't realised how much she depended on him, even if it was just to laugh and moan with him after work. She sighed heavily, the last thing she wanted to do was go to the bar and be on the constant lookout for any telltale signs that her best friend and Sarah were secretly, or not so secretly as the case may be, seeing each other. That sounded far too draining and wasn't exactly the start to the weekend she wanted. So instead, she turned in the opposite direction so that she could go straight home.

Nathan smiled as soon as he saw Haley exit the building and beeped on the horn, causing her to stop her walk, which he noted, was in the direction of home and not the bar, and then she turned to look at him. He pressed the button which lowered the window of his car. "Hales!" he called in greeting when her confused stare met his.

Haley spun around when she heard the horn beep, wondering who the hell it was and then was puzzled deeply when she saw Nathan's car parked on the curb. The window lowered, and he called her over. She was slightly confused because as far as she was aware they still weren't talking to each other. However, she looked at him and saw that he was smiling widely at her, and so she cautiously walked over to him.

Nathan threw the papers he had printed back at the apartment onto the back seat and leaned over so that he could open the door for her. He watched as she eyed him sceptically, and he laughed at her. "Are you getting in or what?" he asked.

Haley climbed in the car and shut the door behind her, pulling on her seatbelt and clicking it into place. She frowned when Nathan pulled out and turned the wrong way, and eyed him suspiciously. Where the hell was he taking her? She decided not to say anything and instead just stared ahead as they pulled up into a long line of traffic. She didn't understand where Nathan was taking her, because this direction was leading off Manhattan, which didn't really make sense. She glanced over at him and saw that he was still wearing that silly smile on his face. Shaking her head in bewilderment, she looked back out of the window. Five minutes later, they had hardly moved an inch. Usually, he would be swearing like a sailor but when she cast her eyes over at him again, he still had an incredibly goofy smile spread right across his face. It was starting to freak her out a little bit. "Nathan, seriously, did you win the lottery or something?" she asked, breaking the silence because she just couldn't take the freakiness anymore.

Nathan chuckled to himself as he stepped on the gas, before putting the brakes on again. "No, I've not won the lottery, gorgeous," he responded. He reached over to the back seat and thrust the papers he'd had on the seat earlier at Haley.

"What's this?" Haley asked as she took the papers Nathan was throwing at her. It looked like a reservation that he'd made, which totally didn't make any sense. She read what was on the paper and realised that it was indeed a reservation for a five star retreat outside of the city, for two nights starting today. She frowned in confusion and looked up at him, finding that he was still grinning at her like a Cheshire cat. "Why have you booked this?" Ten minutes ago, they weren't talking to each other, and now he was whisking her away for the weekend. She was completely confused.

"Think of it as an 'I miss my best friend like crazy' gift," Nathan responded, tapping his hand on the steering wheel before casting his eyes over to Haley, who looked really bemused by everything that had just happened in the last ten minutes. But once she processed his words, a slow smile spread over her face, and he grinned back at her in response.

Haley couldn't help but smile at Nathan, and she shook her head at him as she read further on. Her eyes grew wide when she saw that he'd booked them a damn house for the weekend. "Nathan, you do realise the 'room' you've booked for us is probably going to be bigger than our apartment, right? And I have no clothes!"

Nathan chuckled at her and nodded his head. "I've packed a case for you. And I know about the size of the villa... I guess I really missed you these last two weeks, huh?" he said, and looked out of the window as he tried to change lanes.

Haley looked over at Nathan and grabbed hold of his hand when he manoeuvred them onto the bridge which led off the island, interlacing her fingers with his and resting them on the armrest in between their seats. "I missed you too," she said, and smiled at him before looking out of the window.

Nathan squeezed her hand in response, so relieved that they were back to normal again. He just had one more piece of news to share with her. And he figured it was only fair that he did, seeing as he knew that things hadn't gone so well between her and Ryan last weekend. He waited until they had driven over the bridge. "Nothing happened with Sarah, by the way," he said casually as he continued to look ahead.

Haley snapped her head back so that she was looking at Nathan again. She studied him closely for a good few seconds, firstly wondering why he was telling her this piece of information, and secondly wanting to see whether he was lying to her or not. When she saw no obvious signs that he was, she moved her head back so that she too was staring out of the window. "That's good to know," she said, as if him telling her didn't bother her in the slightest, even though it did. She felt as if her entire world had just been levelled out after everything had been tilted uncomfortably. Things were finally right again.

Nathan looked at her out of the corner of his eye, and he smiled to himself when he saw the smile stretch across Haley's face.

* * *

As soon as Haley finished her glass of wine, Nathan was itching to get out of the restaurant. The drive to the resort hadn't taken too long after they had finally driven out of New York City, and once they had arrived, they had literally just explored their new home for the weekend and then changed before heading out to grab some dinner in the resort restaurant. His leg was jittering underneath the table as he mentally willed the waitress to hurry up and print the check so he could sign for it to be charged to their villa. He was sure the waitress was a mind reader and was prolonging the process purely to torture him. He hadn't been able to get images of using the hot tub out of his mind ever since he'd booked the room earlier that day, and thoughts of what they were going to get up to when using the hot tub made him feel very excited, so much so that the bulge in his pants was becoming extremely uncomfortable. After what felt like an eternity, he signed the slip of paper and practically dragged Haley out of the restaurant. Once they were out of the door, he grabbed hold of one of her wrists and marched them both along the secluded path which led the way to their private villa. He could hear her giggling behind him, and he rolled his eyes at the noises she was making. However, truth be told he couldn't keep the grin off his own face as his brain suddenly became flooded with images of what they were going to get up once they were back in the privacy of their room.

Haley literally couldn't keep up with Nathan as they meandered quickly along the chipped path towards the villa which would be theirs for the entire weekend. Her giggles were quickly turning into full on belly laughs as she followed dutifully behind him, feeling rather like a rag doll being dragged along by a child. Although she was laughing at his eagerness, she also couldn't disguise the fact that her laughter was due to the nerves which she could currently feel fluttering around in her stomach. They had effectively missed a round of ticking something off their lists last weekend, and she was surprised and curious at how much she had missed the intimacy she shared with him. It hadn't even been two weeks since they had last had sex, yet the craving she could feel for him caught her off guard with its intensity. She didn't particularly like feeling this way, because she knew in the back of her mind that their arrangement was going to have to end sometime and the last thing she wanted was to be feeling bereft once they had ticked everything off their lists. An owl hooting in the trees above where they were walking brought her out of her musings, and she tugged on his hand while she look up into the trees. "Did you hear that?" she asked.

Nathan felt Haley tug on his arm, and he slowed his pace down slightly in response. However, he was still rather eager to get back so he continued to press on towards their villa. But when he felt Haley grab onto his arm with her other hand, giving it a forceful tug, he stopped completely and turned around to face her, sighing heavily to herself as he did so. He was slightly agitated that she was delaying their time together, and he couldn't hide the irritation from seeping through to his voice. "It's an owl, Hales," he said.

Haley cut her eyes over to Nathan and glared at him because she didn't like the tone of his voice. He was speaking to her as if she was stupid and didn't know what the noise had been. "I know what it is, Nathan," she responded indignantly.

"So why have we stopped then?" Nathan asked. He tugged gently on Haley's arms which were still wrapped around his own, hoping that she would take the hint and start moving again, but instead she dropped one of her hands from his and stared back up at the trees overhead.

Haley tilted her head and stared up into the trees above, hoping that the owl would make some more noise so that she could try to work out vaguely where it was. "Because I've never seen one before," she responded distractedly and also in a whisper because she didn't want to scare the bird into silence.

Nathan raised his eyebrow at Haley in complete disbelief. "You're stopping us because you've never seen an owl before?" he asked incredulously. He'd had a serious situation going on in his pants ever since they'd arrived at the resort, and he desperately wanted to get back to the privacy of their room so that they could begin to relieve him. But his torture was being prolonged because of an owl. He almost scoffed at the ridiculousness of the situation. He may have been exaggerating slightly about the length of time he'd been hard, but he really did feel like he'd been stiff for an eternity. And more to the point, he'd missed Haley over the last two weeks. He'd missed the closeness they usually shared, and he felt like kicking himself for reacting as he had over the whole marathon thing. If he could go back in time, he wouldn't have reacted so harshly, and he would have handled everything differently so that they wouldn't have had the weeks of silence they'd both had to endure. She was his best friend and not being able to share things with her, even just ask her how her day had been, eat dinner with her and chill out together, had been complete and utter agony for him.

Haley shook her head at Nathan and continued squinting into the darkness. "No, I've never seen an owl before. We live in New York, Nathan. I don't think it's that hard to believe I've never seen one," she returned.

Nathan respectfully kept quiet and watched Haley as she turned her head slightly, obviously trying to see something that she'd never find, because it was pitch black outside save for the small pools of brightness coming from the tiny lights which lined the path to their villa. Without him realising it, his eyes moved over her body as he waited for her to grasp the fact that she was wasting time. He subconsciously licked his lips as his gaze moved over her exposed neck, the craving to run a line of soft kisses along her silky skin taking him by surprise at its intensity. His eyes moved further down her body, resting on the soft lines of her cleavage, shown off to perfection in the teal coloured strapless dress she wore. He had to clench his hands into fists to stop his fingers from darting out to trace over the curves of her body. He could practically feel his fingers running over the material of her dress, dipping into the curve of her waist and moving around to cup her backside. He wanted to press her up against him so that she could feel what just looking at her did to his body, and so that he could feel how her body simply moulded to fit his perfectly. He groaned softly and closed his eyes briefly. Even just imagining the sensations he'd feel caused him to grow even harder. He opened his eyes and they hungrily moved over the vision in front of him, and he quickly made a decision. He needed to get them back to the villa right now.

Haley felt Nathan tugging on her arm again, only this time it was a lot more forceful than the pulls he had given her before. She nearly tripped up but his grip on her arm was strong enough to keep her from falling down onto the ground, and she quickly found her feet again. "Nathan! I want to find the owl," she protested as she felt him begin to march them towards the villa. She tried to stand her ground and stop them from moving but any effort to do so was futile because her strength was no match for his. So instead she once again felt like a rag doll being dragged along by a child.

"Haley, I'll take you to a bird sanctuary any time you want," Nathan responded tightly, quickening his pace slightly just in case she decided to stop again. If need be he'd throw her over his shoulder, but either way, he was getting them back to that villa as soon as was practically possible. "That way, you can see all the owls you want. I'm sure they'll even let you hold one if you ask nicely."

Haley couldn't help but wonder why Nathan was talking about visiting bird sanctuaries when they could just sit outside and try to see the owl right now. She frowned as she felt Nathan's pace quicken so much that she really was having difficulty keeping up with him. "Can you slow down please? What's the big rush to get back to the villa?" she asked.

Nathan realised that he might be looking a little bit ridiculous, and so he slowed his pace down ever so slightly. He felt a little bit silly for wanting to get Haley back to the villa for sex and didn't want to admit as much either. He felt like a hormonal teenager, and it hadn't even been two weeks since he'd last been with her like that. He scoffed at that thought, because as far as he was concerned it had been two weeks too long.

Feeling the slight change in pace, Haley decided to tug on Nathan's arm again. He stopped once more, not before she saw him take a deep breath, his shoulders rising up and then down emphatically before he turned around to face her with a look of frustration clouding his features. She really didn't understand why he was so desperate to get back to the villa. "Seriously, what's the rush?" she asked again, aware that he hadn't provided her with an answer from when she asked him the very same question a couple of minutes ago.

Nathan felt Haley's eyes roam over his face, and he tried to force himself to relax his features but it just wasn't happening. Sighing to himself, he decided that it was best for him to just come clean, because it was obvious from the stance Haley had assumed that she wasn't going to let this one go until she got the truth out of him. "It's been nearly two weeks, Hales. And I just… I mean…What I'm trying to say, gorgeous…," he stuttered. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, wondering when he had become so juvenile. This was his best friend, they had an agreement, and he was simply taking the initiative to get them both back to honouring that agreement. There was nothing wrong with that, nothing to be embarrassed about. He took another deep breath before continuing. "I just thought that seeing as we're here, we could, you know, get back to ticking something off the lists."

Haley couldn't help the smile which spread right across her face. This was a side of Nathan she didn't get to see all too often. He was usually so sure of himself, so confident, and seeing him act all nervous and a little bit insecure was really rather endearing. She raised her eyebrow at him though and saw him look at her with a puzzled expression on his face. "You want to tick something off the lists?" she asked in a confused voice, hoping that he wouldn't catch on that she was teasing him just yet, because she wanted to have some fun with him.

Nathan felt his heart rate increase, and he began to panic slightly. He really shouldn't have just assumed that after everything which had happened between them over the last couple of weeks, Haley would want to continue with their arrangement. He could feel the blood pumping through his veins at a furious rate as the realisation that their agreement was over began to slowly sink into his brain. He felt a tightening in his chest and it hurt. The knowledge that they wouldn't be able to finish what they started made him feel sad, and it was as if he'd lost something very important to him, which he was slightly confused about because he hadn't really lost anything, had he? He still had his best friend.

"I mean, you know it's not Saturday, right?" Haley asked as she bit down on her lip in an effort to stop them from curling into a smile, which would give herself away far too early. She looked over at Nathan and felt her shoulders shake at how wounded he looked. Liking this power she felt she had over him, she closed the distance between them and looked him right in the eyes. She could see the hurt and confusion residing there, and she gasped quietly, wondering why he was having such a strong reaction to her saying that it wasn't a Saturday. She quickly came to the conclusion that it must be because he wanted sex and she was the only person around to give it to him. This thought further bolstered her confidence, and she looked up at him from underneath her eyelashes and released the grip her teeth had on her lip. "You know I don't like breaking the rules we set."

The fact that Haley was talking about breaking rules suddenly hit Nathan like a tidal wave, and he felt his shoulders lighten as he realised that she wasn't saying no to them continuing with the agreement, she was simply saying no to ticking something off the list tonight. He decided that seeing as they were going to be here for another night, he could wait. But he still needed to head back to the villa so that he could take care of himself and relieve some of the tension which had been building up inside of him all night. He briefly considered whether he could burn that Godforsaken piece of paper they'd both signed which outlined the rules but then thought better of it. He lowered his eyes and looked down at Haley, locking his gaze with hers. However, he frowned when he saw the lust and desire shining in her eyes. Was she teasing him?

Haley really did have to bite back the smile when she saw Nathan's confusion increase tenfold. She really didn't want to give the fact that she was teasing him away but the way he was scrutinising her was almost too much for her to take. His forehead was all creased and he just looked really funny.

"Well, I know it's not Saturday, but I just figured that seeing as we're here and not at home we could make an exception, you know?" Nathan said, still incredibly puzzled by the conflicting emotions he could see and feel coming from Haley.

"I don't know, I just think those rules were written for a reason, you know?" Haley responded and then released the grip her teeth had on her lip.

Yes, he was definitely going to burn those damn rules when he got home. Nathan's eyes were roaming intently around Haley's face, searching for any kind of clue which would let him know whether she was being serious or not. He felt like doing an air punch when, after a good solid minute or two of searching, he saw her lips twitch into the beginnings of a smile. The cheeky little minx was totally teasing him, and worse, he had believed her. Well, he decided that two could play at that game. And besides, she didn't know that he knew that she was teasing. "Okay, that's fine, we can wait until tomorrow. No big deal," Nathan said and shrugged his shoulders, releasing the grip he had on her wrist. He then spun around and began to walk back towards the villa, totally calling her bluff.

Haley's mouth dropped open in complete and utter shock as she watched Nathan walk casually off towards the villa as if he hadn't a care in the world. And more importantly, he was walking off as if he didn't want to have sex with her in the slightest. She was now deeply confused because she could have sworn that his little nervous splutter before had been because he wanted her, and he simply didn't know how to ask her if she wanted to tick something off the lists tonight or not. But she'd obviously been wrong. And she was slightly pissed off that he didn't want her at all. Was she really that undesirable? The irritation boiled along her veins, probably heightened by the wine she'd consumed that evening, and she knew she needed to stop him. "Where the hell do you think you're going?" she shouted after him, unable to hide the annoyance she felt at his flippant actions from the tone of her voice.

Nathan couldn't help the smirk which stretched lazily across his face, because he now knew for definite that she did want to tick something off the lists tonight. He halted his footsteps, collected himself and turned to face her again. He'd barely taken four steps away from her before she'd shouted at him. It really was far too easy for him to tease her. He knew her far too well, despite what she might think. "I'm going back to the villa," he responded, as if she'd asked him the most inane question in the world.

"Well that much is obvious," Haley spat at him. God, she wasn't stupid. Their villa was the only thing the path they were currently on led to, so the villa was the only place he could have been heading towards. "But why are you going back?"

Nathan moved his hands and stuffed them in his pockets, hoping that Haley would fall for the trap he'd set for her. Sure enough, her eyes followed his hands, and when he saw her mouth drop open, he grinned widely at her, revealing the fact that he was teasing her. However, her eyes were trained completely on his cock, which was what he wanted, so she didn't see that he was smiling at her. "I'm going back to the villa, gorgeous, because I have a rather big problem which needs dealing with," he responded, his voice so full of innuendo that even the dumbest person on the planet could have worked out just what kind of problem he was referring to, without even having seen the evidence.

Even in the dim light Haley could see that the problem he was referring to was his cock. Her eyes became hooked on the general area of his crotch, and she couldn't help the images which flooded right into her brain, all of them involving that wonderful bit of anatomy which she knew from experience could make her feel so damn good. She was sure she heard herself whimper as she remembered the way he'd slammed her against the wall and taken her there. How on earth had she managed to last thirteen days without feeling him inside her? The thought just seemed like a complete impossibility at the moment.

Nathan moved his eyes over Haley's body rapidly, wondering whether he'd said enough or whether he should lay it on even thicker. He decided on the latter, because the heart attack she'd nearly given him when she'd mentioned the fact that it wasn't Saturday today had almost crushed him completely, so he figured she deserved it. And besides, she was being coy and playful with him; he was just cranking it up a notch. He moved towards her, closing the entirely unnecessary gap he'd created between them and lowered his head so that his mouth was right beside her ear. Her scent invaded him completely, making him want her even more than he had before, making his cock impossibly harder. He gulped, clearing his head of the thought that he craved her too much and concentrated on the matter at hand. "My cock has been hard for you all day, gorgeous," he murmured in a husky voice.

Haley had been that mesmerized with images of them both having sex, she hadn't even realised that Nathan had moved towards her. So when she heard him speak in a gravelly voice right beside her ear, she jumped ten feet into the air. And then when his words finally registered inside her brain, she moaned loudly. She blushed when she realised just how loud her moan had been, and even though she couldn't see him, she knew that there would be a big old victory smirk plastered right across his face. Obviously, she now knew that he had been teasing her like she had been him. He wanted this just as much as she did. It was a good thing she had never been one to give up too easily.

Nathan really did think he had her. She'd played her role perfectly. He'd caught her completely off guard with his comment, and if her audible moan was anything to go by, he'd managed to turn her on that much, she'd never be able to resist him now. But when he felt Haley's fingers run up the front of his thigh, he frowned in complete and utter confusion. What was she playing at? And before he even had a chance to process that thought properly, he felt her fingers graze over his rock hard cock, and he hissed in surprise at the sensation her fingers were creating.

Haley couldn't help the smile that spread across her face when she heard Nathan hiss at her unexpected touch. She ran her fingers lightly over the bulge in his pants and even let another moan pass through her lips to add to her cause. She then gripped his cock through his pants and heard his breathing pick up slightly, which almost made her break out in a victory dance. She squeezed his cock and then released her grip completely, before taking a step back from him. Biting down on her lip in what she hoped was a sexy move, she looked up at him from underneath her eyelashes again. "Such a shame it's not Saturday," she sighed in a despondent voice.

Nathan almost felt like giving Haley a high five for her efforts. However, he quickly disregarded that thought entirely when he felt his cock throb painfully in his boxers because she'd moved her hand away from him, and he remembered that he was going to be the one to suffer if he didn't get her to cave. He raised his eyebrow at her in contemplation and decided to throw in his last, final comment, which he hoped would cause Haley to back down and give in. He kept the distance she'd created between them, knowing that he wouldn't need any physical contact to get his point across to her anyway. "It really is a shame. I've been imagining taking you in that hot tub we have outside on the balcony ever since I booked the villa this afternoon. All I've been thinking about is feeling your hot, wet pussy clamping around my cock as I pound into you, making you scream my name into the blackness of the woods. But, like you said, we wouldn't want to break the rules now, would we? And it's not like I need you to sort my problem out… I can take care of it myself. So…" he said, leaving the sentence hanging on purpose.

For the second time that evening, Haley's mouth dropped open in righteous indignation. Seriously, who the hell did he think he was? She watched in complete disbelief as he turned around and walked off in the direction of the villa, only this time she was too stunned to even stop him. She shook herself from her angry musings a couple of minutes later and stomped along the path, finally rounding the corner which revealed the villa to her. Storming up the steps, she swung the front door open and narrowed her eyes when she saw a half-naked Nathan walk brazenly down the stairs with a towel wrapped around his waist. She wanted to slap herself on the head when the first thought which entered her brain was regarding what he did or possibly didn't have on underneath the towel. Why was it that he had the ability to make her fawn all over him like this? It wasn't like her at all to act this way.

Nathan had to smile at the scowl Haley was wearing. He'd peeked out of the window upstairs and had seen her walking down the path, so he decided to quickly strip down and wrap a towel around his waist before making a move to the very same hot tub he had been using to tease her with. "Hey, gorgeous," he said casually as he continued to walk down the stairs, as if they hadn't just been having a bit of a stand off not minutes earlier. Once he reached the bottom, he headed for the kitchen to grab a bottle of wine from the fridge.

Without even realising that she was moving, Haley found herself following Nathan into the kitchen. She stood in the doorway and watched as he grabbed a bottle of chilled white wine from the fridge, and then he took a single glass from the cabinet. She almost reached out to slap him when she saw his arm muscles tensing, sure that he was doing that on purpose, just to taunt her further.

Nathan could feel her eyes burning holes into his back and for added effect he tensed the muscles in his arms as he grabbed his glass from the cupboard. He then collected himself for a second, because he was finding the whole exchange really rather amusing, before he turned around to face a very angry and frustrated looking Haley. _Join the club, gorgeous,_ he thought to himself. He was sure there wasn't a single man on the planet more wound up than him at the moment. "I'm just going to use the hot tub. You know, help ease some of the tension," he said and then winked at Haley so she knew exactly what kind of tension he was talking about, before he slipped out of the back door onto the balcony.

Haley watched as Nathan walked through the door and then once he was out of sight she banged her head against the frame of the door she was standing against, completely and utterly frustrated with tonight's turn of events. Now when she closed her eyes she couldn't get the image of Nathan's big hands sorting out his very obvious problem, and she felt her fist clench together at her side because she wanted to be the one relieving him of his tension. But how could she go out there now after all her teasing? If she did, it would mean that he would win this little battle, and she just couldn't allow that to happen. So instead she literally dragged herself up to the bedroom and flopped down on the bed, fully intending to just go to sleep so she could forget tonight had ever happened.

Nathan ripped the towel off his body and shivered as the cool night air hit his skin. He placed the bottle of wine and the glass on the ledge of the tub and switched it on, causing the bubbles to froth to the surface. He jumped in, immediately feeling the warm water heat his body. Settling himself down, he leaned his head back and stared up at the starry night sky before he turned his head slightly so that he could see the dim light in the bedroom upstairs. He chuckled to himself as he sat up again and poured himself a glass of cool, white wine, getting comfortable again as he took a sip of the delicious liquid. He sighed to himself as he felt the jets begin to work their magic on his back, and he let out a chuckle as he thought about the problem on the front of his body. But he knew that all he needed to do was wait patiently and soon enough it'd be sorted in the way he had originally planned.

Sleep wasn't coming easily to Haley. She rolled her eyes at herself because she hadn't even got underneath the covers, nor had she taken off her clothes. So it wasn't exactly as if she was trying very hard to get to sleep. After about thirty minutes of torturing herself with images of Nathan taking care of business, she ran through what had happened earlier on that evening and suddenly get utterly furious with him when she remembered his words. 'It's not like I need you to sort my problem out'. She quickly jumped off the bed and decided to give him an even bigger problem than the one he'd had earlier, just to show him.

Nathan was starting to grow concerned that his cockiness at thinking Haley was going to come out here and help relieve his problem had all been in vain. He wasn't sure how much time had passed since he'd been in the hot tub but it definitely felt like a significant period of time had passed. And he didn't like that fact, because it meant that he really was going to have to take matters into his own hands, yet again. And he knew that his hand felt so mediocre compared to the feeling of being wrapped up in her completely. He sighed to himself in defeat, grabbing the glass of wine he'd left on the ledge and poured himself another, thinking that if he was going to have to perform the walk of shame into the bedroom, he'd need another drink. Plus it gave Haley more time to fall asleep so he wouldn't have to be quite so ashamed of himself and his big ego when he faced her.

Haley wrapped the towel tighter around her body and peered out of the glass door which led out onto the balcony. She could see Nathan sitting in the hot tub with a glass of wine placed on the ledge beside him. His eyes were closed and his head was thrown back, and to her he looked totally relaxed. She could only see his shoulders and head, the rest of him submerged in the bubbling water, but even what she could see was enough to make the desire build from deep inside of her. She wanted him, in that hot tub, just as he'd described earlier. She wanted him to get her so worked up that all she could do was scream out his name into the night. She was lucky that he was sitting in the tub facing her, because it was perfect for what she had planned, but she still couldn't help the apprehension which was building up inside of her. She bit down on her lip and berated herself for feeling like she was. She squared her shoulders, took a deep breath and decided to just go with it.

Nathan heard the door to the villa open and a smirk instantly spread right across his face. But he quickly covered it up and shuffled himself slightly in an effort to stop himself from doing a fist pump to celebrate his victory. He should never have doubted himself; of course Haley was going to come running to him. He opened his eyes once he'd taken a couple of seconds to calm himself down and raised his head from where he had been leaning against the edge of the tub, his eyes instantly finding Haley. And when his gaze fell on her very naked form, he almost chocked on the water which was bubbling viciously around him.

Haley laughed quietly at Nathan's reaction to her being naked and continued to sashay over to the hot tub. She was really thankful for the numerous glasses of wine she'd had at dinner because she'd never be able to pull this off sober. She watched as his hungry eyes moved rapidly over her body, as if they couldn't work out what they wanted to settle on which emboldened her further. She loved the way he reacted to her body, it gave her the added bit of confidence she needed to continue moving over to him and not run back inside. She swayed her hips as she moved and ran her tongue seductively over her lips, watching as Nathan's eyes appeared to darken with desire.

She was naked. Not only was she naked, but she was coming towards him, as if she was planning on getting in the tub with him… Naked. He honestly hadn't expected Haley to come up with a move like this, and he momentarily forgot about the teasing they had been doing to each other earlier, because all he wanted to do was grab her and sheath himself inside of her. His eyes moved furiously over Haley's body, watching the way her nipples puckered in the cool night air, the way her breasts moved as she stepped towards him, the sexy way her hips swayed from side to side, the curve of her legs as she walked and then when he saw her tongue peek out and lick those luscious lips of hers he almost lost it right then and there. She really was the epitome of sexy seductress, and she had him cast fully under her spell. He felt like he couldn't move. His eyes were locked on her completely, and his body was reacting in the only way it could. He wanted her. Plain and simple.

Haley felt completely alive, the blood pouring through her veins as she watched Nathan's eyes move over her form. The only way she could describe his reaction was that he looked completely and utterly mesmerised by her. She lifted her shoulders and arched her back slightly, causing her breasts to push out even more, and she heard him groan at her in response. She smiled softly to herself; it was just the reaction she was hoping for. It proved that he was paying complete attention to her. Once she reached the side of the hot tub, she lifted one of her legs and stepped into the water, before bringing her other leg around too, making sure that Nathan had a perfect view of her most private area in the process, of course.

Nathan gulped audibly and had to grip his thighs in an effort to stop himself from grabbing onto his cock and shooting his load far too early for his liking. She'd just flashed her pussy at him. And from the look of her, she knew exactly what she was doing to him too. He almost breathed a sigh of relief when Haley slipped inside the water, covering most of herself underneath the surface so that all he could see was her shoulders and head. He released the grip his hands had on his thighs and relaxed slightly. However, when she turned around to face him, the look of unadulterated lust which was burning in her eyes was enough to have him whimpering and gripping onto his legs all over again. He had most definitely underestimated her. He had no idea she could be such a calculated temptress. But he couldn't find it within himself to be angry with her or want to seek revenge, because she looked so God damned perfect right now. The soft light inside of the hot tub was casting a glow around her body so that she looked like an angel sent from Heaven. The bottom half of her hair was wet, and was spilling around in the water and the bubbles from the jets were softly simmering around her. He was completely captivated by her, and it was only when she was about two metres in front of him that he realised that she'd been moving slowly towards him.

Haley bit down on her lip as she moved towards Nathan and noticed that his eyes suddenly snapped back into focus, locking with her gaze. He looked like he had been lost in a very satisfying but frustrating daydream, if the pure want and need she could see burning in his eyes was anything to go by. She felt rather mean at what she had planned for him next, but even so, after what he'd said to her tonight, she figured he deserved a little more torture. Once she was right in front him, she stood up from her crouched position, so that most of the top half of her body was exposed and watched in satisfaction as his eyes instantly dropped to her breasts. She lifted her legs one at a time and moved so that she was straddling him, hearing him suck in a sharp breath of surprise at her movements. She was rather shocked to find that he wasn't naked, but was wearing what must have been his board shorts, which was a bit of a shame. She made sure not to lower herself down onto him completely, so she couldn't tell whether he was hard or not, but she sure as hell hoped that he hadn't taken matters into his own hands just yet.

Nathan didn't know what the hell she was doing and it was unnerving him slightly. Usually he wouldn't act like this. Usually he'd be confident and cocky, his usual self; but Haley was acting so unlike her usual timid self, he wasn't quite sure what to do with her. His eyes, however, weren't shy at all and they feasted on the sight of her breasts, which were suddenly placed right next to his face. She was that close to him he was sure that if he flicked his tongue out he'd be able to hit one of her nipples without even having to move his head. He managed to tear his gaze away from her breasts somehow and looked right into her deep, brown eyes which were burning bright, and he gave her a quizzical look, as if he was asking her what she thought she was playing at.

Haley looked down at Nathan and could see that he was looking up at her with a very confused expression on his face. She rather liked the fact that the tables were turned on him tonight, she liked the fact that he didn't have a clue what was going on. It was so unlike how things usually were between them. Usually, she was the one who felt insecure and unsure. She leaned forward slightly so that her breasts were even closer to his mouth, and she reached out with her hand, grabbing the glass of wine which was sitting on the edge of the tub behind him. She then leaned back slightly so that she could show Nathan the wine glass. "Do you mind?" she asked as she lifted the glass up to her lips, but she waited for him to respond to her question before she took a sip.

Nathan was jolted out of his daydream, which consisted of thoughts of licking his tongue around her nipples and hearing her beautiful moan in response when he heard her ask him something. He had to shake his head slightly to rid his head of the images it was conjuring up, and he refocused his eyes, moving them to lock with Haley's gaze. "Sure, go ahead," he said when he saw her holding his glass of wine up to her lips. He watched as she took a sip, and then she leaned back towards him to place it back down on the ledge of the tub. He closed his eyes when her breasts were in his face again, because he simply couldn't stand the torture. He then suddenly felt that the warmth of her body was gone, and he opened his eyes to find that she had moved back into the middle of the tub. He felt some of the tension leave his body now that she wasn't sat on his lap, but those feelings were quickly replaced with the want to be close to her again. He looked contemplatively at her as she lulled around in the water and once again found that he was getting incredibly angry with himself as he thought of his behaviour over the past two weeks.

Haley pushed her feet against the bottom of the tub and lifted her stomach to the surface so that her entire body was now floating on top of the water. She felt totally relaxed as she gazed up at the clear, starry night sky. She loved floating in the water, it made her feel really peaceful. Her ears were submerged under the surface so all she could hear was the hum of the jets working the water, making her feel even calmer. She closed her eyes and quickly forgot about the game she was supposed to be playing with Nathan.

Nathan reached behind him to grab the glass of wine, and finished off what was left in the glass while he watched Haley lying in the water. If he thought she looked like an angel before, then he was sure that right now she looked like a goddess. Her dark hair was fanned out around her head, her eyes were shut and she looked totally tranquil and calm. His eyes moved down her body, over the long line of her neck, and his eyes zoned in on the perfect curves of those breasts which had been right in front of his face a few moments ago. Her slender stomach was half out of the water too, the same went for her legs. He placed the now empty wine glass back on the ledge behind him and settled back down into a comfortable position, just so that he could watch her for a while. It was truly nice to see her like this, like she didn't have a care in the world and could totally be at peace with everything.

Haley wasn't sure how much time passed, but she was jolted out of her peaceful musings when she felt two hands slip underneath her arms and hook onto her shoulders. She opened her eyes and bent her head back slightly, seeing Nathan standing above her. She smiled up at him and watched as he smiled back, and then he began to walk them both slowly around the tub. She bent her arms so that her hands covered his and she closed her eyes again. She felt him stretch his fingers out and she linked her fingers with his, enjoying the feel of him being close to her again.

Eventually, Nathan moved to the edge of the tub and sat himself down, pulling Haley upright and sitting her down on his lap, her back to his chest. He moved both of their hands from her shoulders and settled them on her stomach, his head resting in the crook of her neck. He could feel how relaxed she seemed, and he smiled in the knowledge of that fact. "You okay, gorgeous?" he whispered.

Haley smiled and squeezed Nathan's hands which were still wrapped in hers. She moved her legs slowly through the water, alternating her soft kicks. "Yeah, I am," she said and sighed contentedly. "Are you?"

Nathan turned his head and placed a gentle kiss on the side of her neck, breathing in the sweet scent of her. "I'm good," he responded. He leaned his chin on Haley's shoulder and sat back against the tub, bringing her with him. He thought back to their evening together, wondering when the atmosphere had changed from their teasing banter from earlier to the seriousness and tranquillity of the moment right now. Without even realising that he was doing it, his thumbs began to trace idle circles on the soft skin of her stomach as he breathed in heavily.

Haley continued to move her legs in the water and felt Nathan's thumbs rubbing around the area just underneath her ribs. She wasn't sure how long the silence stretched out for, but she was incredibly comfortable sitting in his lap in the hot tub. It wasn't like she was searching for something to say to him to fill the quiet night; she just enjoyed the stillness of the moment they were sharing. She melted into his body and relaxed fully in his embrace. Her mind wandered randomly to how things had been before they started their arrangement with each other, and although she had been comfortable with him then, she felt like the whole list thing had caused them to become closer than they ever had been before, and not just in the obvious physical sense. She thought back over all that had happened since they started ticking things off lists, and a prime example of how close she'd become with her best friend was Lily. Even as Haley thought of her, she squeezed Nathan's hands with hers subconsciously, but she knew without a shadow of a doubt that she wouldn't have been able to help him as she had managed to if they hadn't started this arrangement. She felt a surge of gratefulness rush through her body because she knew just how lucky she was to have him in her life. Although she had been incredibly angry with him over the past couple of weeks at how he had handled the whole marathon training she'd been doing, she knew that he was only being protective of her because he cared. She knew that she hadn't shared any of what the doctor had said to her and she wasn't sure why she felt like revealing all to Nathan right now, but the moment felt right. "I'm pulling out of the marathon," she said quietly, wanting to share this piece of information with him but also not wanting to spoil the peacefulness of the night.

Nathan stilled his thumbs from drawing circles on Haley's stomach as he processed her words. He felt as though a huge weight had been lifted from his shoulders, and he felt a thousand times lighter than he had before. He hadn't realised how much the unease at knowing whether or not she'd listened to him and what he had assumed the doctor had said to her two weeks ago had been weighing him down, and he was incredibly happy to learn that his methods, although undoubtedly not perfect, had at least caused her to re-evaluate her plans. Unlacing his fingers from Haley's, he moved his hands further around the expanse of her stomach, continuing around to her hips so that he could hug her tightly to his chest. He loosened the grip he had of her body and breathed in deeply. Although he was pleased she wouldn't be training for the marathon any longer, he also knew that she would probably resent him a little for causing her to give up something she enjoyed doing. "I'm not going to deny that I'm pleased about that, gorgeous, but I'm also sorry you have to give it up," he said softly, wanting her to know that his apology was heartfelt and was also how he really felt about the whole situation.

Haley shook her head softly, the guilt she felt over what she had put Nathan through consuming her entirely. She frowned as she stared into the bubbling water in front of her, feeling incredibly angry at herself for being so selfish. "You have nothing to be sorry about, Nathan. I'm the one who should be apologising to you. I can't believe how thoughtless I've been." She took a deep breath, hearing how her voice was cracking with the emotion she felt building up in her chest. She felt her eyes begin to water and she blinked rapidly in an attempt to stop the tears from falling down her cheeks. "And I'm really ashamed about how I acted when you booked the doctors appointment…" she began, but was cut off from continuing any further by Nathan who interrupted her.

"No, Hales. You had every right to act as you did. I can't believe that I went behind your back like that… you know I'd never use what happened against you, and I'm really fucking annoyed with myself that I did. I crossed a line, but I was just at a complete loss with what to do. I knew that you shouldn't be training, but I didn't know how to make you see that. So I decided on what was the easiest option for me and the hardest one for you to deal with. I just kept thinking about what would happen if you ended up back in that hospital again, and I knew that I just couldn't allow you to take that kind of risk with your body. I can't loose you, gorgeous, and I'm sorry if that makes me a selfish bastard and means that I sometimes overreact. I'll do anything to keep you safe," Nathan returned. It was only when he finished talking that he realised his hands had captured her hips tightly again, only this time it felt like he was clinging onto her with desperation, wanting her to understand the truth in his words. He wouldn't let anyone or anything hurt her like that again.

Haley closed her eyes and had a small smile on her face as she listened to her best friend's words. She never felt more safe and protected than she did when Nathan was near, and when she opened her eyes she couldn't stop the tears from falling down her face. She stopped kicking her legs in the water and breathed in deeply, the guilt once again flooding her whole being. "I don't deserve to have you in my life," she whispered, moving her hands along from her stomach until she covered Nathan's which were still resting on her hips. She linked their fingers together again and pulled his hands up from her hips until they were both bobbing on the surface of the water.

"Trust me, it's the other way around." Nathan moved his head slightly so that his was resting beside Haley's and he frowned when he felt wetness which seemed suspiciously like tracks of tears on the sides of Haley's face. He kept his eyes focussed on their hands, watching as she played with his fingers absentmindedly. He dropped one of his hands back underneath the water and wrapped it around her stomach, wanting to offer her some comfort. "Why are you crying, gorgeous?" he murmured as he lifted his head slightly and dropped a feather light kiss on the top of her shoulder.

Haley took another couple of deep breaths and she concentrated on running her fingers in between Nathan's which were splayed on the surface of the water, closing her eyes for a brief second as she felt the butterflies jitter in her stomach when he continued to kiss her shoulder softly. "I'm really angry with myself and how I acted, and I'm just so sorry for making you worry and pushing you so far that you had no other option but to make that appointment. I know you'd never do anything like that out of spite, I was just shocked that you had to go that far to get me to listen, I guess. And I didn't want to be wrong, obviously, even though I kind of knew I would be," she returned.

Nathan couldn't help the smile which spread across his face as he continued to pepper kisses along her skin. "Ah yes, we all know that Miss James is never wrong," he muttered playfully.

Haley shook her head and smiled. "Well I wouldn't say never, but most of the time I'm not wrong," she returned in a teasing tone. "Whereas you are wrong pretty much all of the time."

"Is that so?" Nathan returned with a chuckle.

"Uh huh," Haley responded. "You should just admit that I'm usually right and you're usually wrong, you know." She watched as Nathan moved his hand away from where she had been playing with it and she felt it settle on her thigh underneath the water. She lowered both her hands until they were resting beside her body, grateful for the change in the tone of their conversation.

"So that time when we were thirteen and went to the theme park during summer, and I told you it was going to rain but you were having none of it, you were right then?" Nathan asked. "Because if I remember rightly, I was all decked out in my poncho and you looked like a drowned rat, not to mention the fact that you wouldn't stop moaning about how cold and wet you were…"

Haley raised her eyebrow as she recalled the story Nathan was telling. "Well I can't believe that you were so discourteous that you wouldn't even give me your poncho!" Haley returned. "And are we ever going to be able to go six months without being able to mention that particular anecdote?"

"But was I wrong then, when I said it was going to rain?" Nathan persisted, because she still hadn't admitted that he had been right. Their parents still bantered about that day out every single time they got together; it seemed to be one of their favourite memories of their childhood.

"No… but…" Haley started but was soon cut off by Nathan.

"That's right I wasn't wrong. And what about that time when I guessed that Chris the Creep was only pretending to be flunking math so that he could get you to tutor him because he liked you. Was I wrong about that?" Nathan asked. He couldn't help the grin that swept across his face as he remembered just how infatuated the poor boy had been with Haley, and how disgusted she had been when he had moved in for a kiss. Poor bastard's nose hadn't been straight since.

Haley actually shuddered at the mere mention of Chris the Creep. "Urgh, did you have to bring that up?" she questioned, shaking her head ferociously as she tried to rid it of the image of greasy Chris trying to suck her lips off her face.

Nathan felt Haley wiggling about in his lap, and he couldn't help but laugh at her reaction to that particular memory. "Was I right about that one, too?" he asked.

Haley scowled and pursed her lips, not willing to relent on this one as well. Yes, he'd been right about Chris' intentions, and she had been so annoyed that she hadn't seen through his lies about how he was failing math. She'd simply seen someone who needed her help and gullible Haley had fallen right for his lies. She and Nathan had a huge row when he'd tried to warn her of Chris' intentions, because she couldn't understand why someone would allow themselves to receive poor grades just so that they could be tutored. It hadn't made an ounce of sense to her then, and if she was being honest with herself, nor did it now.

Nathan waited for Haley to answer him but after a minute of silence, it was obvious that he was going to have to coax it out of her. He moved his hands to just below her ribs and began to tickle her. She wiggled around in his lap like a fish but she still wasn't giving him the answer he wanted, so he continued. "I'm not going to stop until you admit the truth, gorgeous," he said, smiling as she continued to squirm in his lap. She was trying to slip underneath the water and the movement of her body caused her to rub right over his cock, and he sucked in a sharp breath as he felt her naked core rub continuously over his board shorts covered shaft, causing it to harden almost immediately. However, he willed himself to ignore his hard on and continued to tickle her mercilessly.

"Nathan, please stop!" Haley screamed, and instead of feeling him slow down or stop, she could have sworn he simply doubled his efforts. "Alright, alright, you weren't wrong about that one either!" Finally she felt him stop tickling her, and she breathed a sigh of relief as he hooked his hands underneath her arms and pulled her back up into a sitting position. She felt herself rub against his cock and couldn't help but notice how hard he was. She had to bite back the moan because she was suddenly reminded of her reasons for coming out here in the first place. She wanted them to tick off 'in a hot tub' tonight and feeling how hard and ready he was, she had a feeling that he did too. However, instead of doing something about it, he seemed content to continue their game of naming times when he had been right and she had been wrong, frustratingly, if the fact that he sat her right up on his lap again was anything to go by.

Nathan really should have lifted Haley off his body a little more because brushing her against his cock for the second time was just torturing himself. He moved his hands from underneath her arms and lightly trailed them down her sides, innocently fanning his hands out so that his thumbs brushed accidentally over her nipples. He heard her moan quietly and she wiggled slightly in his lap, trying to get back to the position where she could rub herself against his cock, but he gripped his fingers into her skin, smiling when she stopped moving because she had known what he had been asking of her without him even having to say the words. He moved his hands further down her sides, into the dip of her waist and out over the curve of her hips until he got to her thighs, continuing down towards her knees. Turning his head slightly, he ran his nose up the column of her neck, breathing in the sweet smell of her, before he placed a kiss just underneath her ear, hearing Haley sigh softly in response.

Haley wasn't sure exactly of what Nathan was doing, but she didn't want to say anything just in case he wasn't teasing her and was actually going to give her what she wanted. She was sure the pass his thumbs had taken against her nipples wasn't a mistake, and when she'd tried to lower herself a little to create a bit of much needed friction, he had stopped her, which was frustrating, but his hands had continued their trail down her body at least. They were now just reaching her knees and she felt him part her knees so that her legs were now resting on the outside of his thighs. She smiled in satisfaction because this position opened herself up to him, which she hoped meant that he planned to touch her right where she needed it.

Nathan traced idle circles along the inside of Haley's thighs, revelling in the smoothness of her skin. He moved his lips from her neck up to her earlobe and latched onto it with his teeth, giving it a slight tug before releasing it. "And what about tonight, gorgeous?" he whispered in her ear. "I was right about that, too. I knew that you'd come out here eventually, because you can't resist it, can you? You want it just as much as I do."

Haley could feel Nathan's fingers moving further up her thigh, and she moaned when she heard the words he was whispering huskily in her ear. The fact that he'd been out here waiting for her caused a rush of desire to flood through her body and made her impossibly wet for him. She craved his touch and as far as she was concerned, his fingers couldn't get to her pussy fast enough.

"I think you coming down here naked was all part of your plan to seduce me, wasn't it?" he asked as his fingers danced up her skin. He was getting closer and closer to her centre and his fingers were itching to get there so that they could sink into her warmth. His cock was twitching in his shorts at the mere thought of being inside of her, but he was going to have to wait for that because he wanted to work her up good and proper first.

Haley moaned audibly as she felt Nathan's hand move further up her inner thigh. He was so close to her now, so close to touching her right where she craved him. She wiggled around in his lap, trying to move her body so that she was closer to his hand, trying to brush her pussy against him, but he moved his hand away, and she almost growled at him in frustration. He'd obviously hit the nail on the head with her motives for coming down to the hot tub tonight. She just hoped he was going to make good on his words from earlier because she really, quite desperately wanted him to fuck her here.

Nathan felt Haley move her hips closer to his hand so he withdrew them slightly, keeping the distance. He heard a feral sound rumble from deep inside of her and he smirked to himself, because he most certainly was working her up just as he wanted. He moved his mouth down to her neck and sucked harshly on the spot which he knew she loved and heard her gasp in response and tighten in his arms. He ran his tongue around the spot in a circle once he had released her skin, as if he were trying to soothe it and apologise for being a bit rough with her. "Was I right about that as well, Hales? Did you come down here because you wanted a fuck in the hot tub?"

His fingers were now on Haley's pussy but they weren't doing what she wanted them to do. Nathan's touch was far too light, and although the fact that he was running his middle finger right along her lower lips should have given her some light relief, he wasn't going high enough to touch her clit and he wasn't moving his finger low enough to pass over her entrance, so his finger wasn't sating her need in the slightest. It was highly frustrating, and she was literally squirming around in his lap so much she was sure that if he turned the bubbles of the tub off, she'd create enough waves to match the jets' strength. "God, Nathan, please," she begged as she continued to wiggle in his lap.

Nathan moved his finger slightly higher, so that he just brushed the underside of Haley's clit, and he was instantly rewarded for doing so.

"Yes, that feels so good," Haley cried out as his finger moved lightly over her clit, and she then moaned when she felt him slip his middle finger just inside of her pussy. She hoped that if she clamped her muscles down on his finger she'd be able to tempt him into penetrating her further and with more fingers added to the mix.

Nathan groaned when he felt Haley's inner muscles clench around his finger, and it wasn't even halfway inside of her. She was so warm and slick, so inviting, and he desperately wanted to delve right into her. However, he resisted the temptation to push his fingers deep inside of her and pulled his finger out, moving it back up her slit towards her clit. He heard her let out a growl of frustration, which was just what he wanted, and he decided to try to get her talking to him a little bit more, because he really liked it when she did that. "Tell me what you want, gorgeous," he said huskily as he placed a row of kisses down her neck towards her shoulder. He began to move his other hand up her stomach and stopped as soon as he reached the underside of her left breast, tracing idle lines along her skin.

God, Haley really did think that Nathan was the most infuriating man on the whole damn planet. His finger, which had been right where she wanted it, was now stuck in no-man's land, halfway between her clit and her entrance, and his other hand had begun a promising trail up her stomach but had decided to halt right underneath her breast. She could feel him smirking against her skin as he placed kisses along her shoulder, and she resented the fact that he thought he could tease her like this. He'd turned the tables on her good and proper after her little stunt earlier, so she decided to shock him by giving him exactly what he wanted. "I want you to move your right hand down and plunge three of your long fingers right inside of me while your thumb rubs circles on my clit, and I want your left hand to move up so that it can roll my nipple in between your thumb and index finger. I want you to pinch and pull it. I want you to make me come so hard I can't even remember my name. Then, when I'm done, I want you get yourself out of those shorts you're stupidly wearing, and I want to fuck you right here in this hot tub, like you said you imagined earlier. Sound like something you can do, Nathan?" she said in what she hoped was a sexy voice, and then leaned herself over to the side so that she could look at him with a raised eyebrow.

If Nathan thought he was hard before, then his cock was now ready to break free from its confines and seek out Haley's pussy itself. He was literally throbbing for her, but it seemed that she wanted to come before he delved into her with his cock, so he'd oblige. But then she turned to look at him with a raised eyebrow and a rather triumphant look on her face, so he decided to change what she'd asked of him slightly. It wouldn't be hard and fast like she asked. He was going to go nice and slow. He was absolutely positive that the end result would be the same. She would come so hard that she couldn't even remember her name, but it would just take her a little longer to get there.

Haley smiled in satisfaction as Nathan began to move his hands down and up respectively, and she righted herself again before she leaned back so that her head was resting to the side of his, and her back was flush against his chest. She moaned out loud when she felt three of his fingers move inside of her, and then he slowly withdrew them. She was about to protest because this wasn't the speed she had been anticipating, but as soon as she opened her mouth, his left hand found her nipple and grabbed it in between his thumb and index finger and pinched it, causing her open mouth to groan in approval.

Nathan moved his fingers back inside of her, keeping the slow pace but making sure that he went as deep as he could. He then moved his thumb up towards her clit and began to run it around in light circles, being sure to not apply too much pressure. Curling his fingers once they were deep inside of her, he slowly dragged them along her upper wall, feeling Haley's breathing pick up a notch when they ran over her g-spot, and her back arched beautifully, reminding him not to neglect her fabulous breasts.

All too soon, Haley felt Nathan's fingers move away from her g-spot and they eventually eased out of her again. He moved them back inside of her body again at the snail's pace he'd set. His thumb was barely pressing on her clit and his fingers on his left hand were now tracing around her nipple, which wasn't really helping her to ease any of the tension she had racing through her veins. However, this time, when he began to withdraw his fingers, he kept them at her g-spot and moved them slowly over it repeatedly, which caused her mouth to drop open. She arched her back and let out a breathy moan. "Please..." she begged, needing more.

Nathan increased the pace and pressure of his fingers for a few strokes and then began to withdraw his fingers again, before pushing them back inside of her. He could hear Haley breathing rapidly, and her back was arched again so he brushed his thumb over her nipple and increased the pressure of his other thumb on her clit. "You like that?" he asked in a gravelly voice.

"I need your fingers to go faster," Haley moaned in response. She felt like she was tinkering on the edge. She knew how much pleasure would be brought her way, if only Nathan would just grant her what she wanted. She could feel the fire burning dimly in her stomach, and she desperately wanted the white hot heat to soar through her body. And she was so close...

Nathan increased the pace of his fingers and applied more pressure to her clit and nipples. He heard Haley let out a loud moan in response and that only served to make him want to move faster. He loved watching Haley when she came; it truly was one of the most beautiful things he'd ever had the pleasure of seeing. "Is that better?" he asked, knowing from the way she was moaning and withering in his arms that it was, but he wanted the affirmation all the same.

"God, yes, that's so fucking good," Haley groaned out. Her back was arching so much she was surprised it didn't break in two. The bubbles from the jets were simmering around her, causing her body to feel that much hotter than it already was. The sweat was building on her forehead, and she desperately wanted something to hold onto, but she couldn't find anything within her reach, so instead she clenched her hands into fists. Each pass of Nathan's hand was rubbing her g-spot perfectly, and she could feel the pleasure building inside of her. "So damn close..."

Nathan was panting just as much as Haley was. "I know, gorgeous, I can feel it," he said. Her walls were beginning to clamp down sporadically around his fingers, and he groaned in response. She was so tight and when she came it made her even more so, which felt so damn good. He was imaging what his cock would feel like when it was buried deep inside of her, and he felt it throb in response. He figured the quicker she came, the quicker he'd be able to get inside of her, which is what he wanted so very desperately. He increased his efforts so that his fingers were thrusting in and out of her at a furious pace and he pinched her nipple between his thumb and finger. "Come on, Hales. Come for me."

Haley felt Nathan move his left hand from her nipple and he pinched her clit, which was what threw her over the edge. She screamed out as her orgasm overtook her body, and she threw her head back, giving into the sensations of pleasure which were coursing through her body vigorously. "Fuck, Nathan," she cried out as she shuddered and tensed. Her entire body convulsed while the water continued to bubble around her.

Nathan watched as Haley's body juddered while her powerful orgasm consumed her. He was completely enthralled by her as the blush spread across her beautiful face and travelled further down her neck and shoulders. The rest of her body was submerged in the water, but he could feel what he was doing to her from the way her walls contracted around his fingers and in the way her body tensed and withered on his lap. He continued to move his fingers in and out of her body, riding out her orgasm with her while his other hand continued to run around her clit in soft circles.

Once Haley had ridden out her orgasm, she realised just how sensitive she was and she whimpered as she lowered one of her hands underneath the water and moved Nathan's hand away from her clit. "Too sensitive," she said.

"Sorry, gorgeous," Nathan apologised and removed his other hand from inside of her, placing it on her thigh instead.

Haley giggled to herself. "I don't think you need to apologise after that!" she said and relaxed in his embrace, feeling one of his hands wrapping around her stomach. She brought her legs together again and felt how hard Nathan was underneath her. She moaned quietly, not believing that she actually wanted more after the orgasm she'd just had. There was something about him that made her completely insatiable when it came to sex.

Nathan felt Haley's leg rub against his hard on and he had to suppress the groan he felt rumble up his throat. He wanted nothing more than to let her sink down on top of him but she'd just said that she was too sensitive, so he decided to do the gentlemanly thing and give her some recovery time.

Despite saying that she had been too sensitive for Nathan to continue caressing her body, now that Haley had felt just how hard he was, she couldn't stop thinking about his cock being inside of her. She lifted herself up out of the water and rearranged herself so that her legs were folded alongside his and resting on the ledge of the tub which he was sitting on. She nearly lost her footing so he had to grab a hold of her hips in an effort to keep her upright, and she giggled in response. "I've never been the most coordinated person on the planet, have I?"

"What are you doing?" Nathan asked in a bemused tone as he held onto Haley's hips so that she didn't go tumbling into the water and break her ankle or something in the process of whatever it was she was doing.

Haley lowered herself back down into the water so that she was straddling Nathan's lap, checking that she was in the right position. Once she realised that her position was perfect, she lifted herself up a little bit so that her thighs were straight and moved her hands underneath her body, pulling on the elastic of Nathan's board shorts. "What do you think I'm doing?" she asked in a suggestive voice. "Lift up so I can get these off."

Nathan frowned in confusion. Hadn't she just said she was too sensitive? He didn't understand why the hell was she trying to get his shorts off his body. He was really puzzled by this and didn't want to hurt her or anything, so he voiced his concern. "Are you sure, Hales?" he asked, wanting to make sure that she was ready for him.

Haley sighed heavily. "Nathan, I don't care that it's Friday and not Saturday. Let's just say we're not following the rules this weekend, okay? We're not at home, so let's just enjoy ourselves. I really want you inside of me and judging by how hard you are, you want that too, so lift up!" she commanded and tugged on his shorts again for added emphasis.

Nathan was slightly shocked by Haley's little rant. That hadn't been what he was going on about at all, and in all honesty the fact that it wasn't Saturday hadn't even entered his head at all since she'd joined him in the tub. Everything that had happened between them so far had just felt really natural. But if she was willing to forget about the rules for the weekend, then there was no way in hell that he was going to say no to that. So, like a good boy, he lifted his hips up and felt her slip his shorts down his legs until she got the waist band down to his knees. He reached around her and pulled them all the way off his body, throwing them out of the tub once he had freed himself of them completely.

As soon as Haley saw that he had thrown his shorts out of the water, she reached down and grasped his rock hard cock with her hands. "God, you're so hard," she breathed and then began to move her hand up and down the long length of his shaft.

"Jesus, fuck!" Nathan groaned as he felt Haley move her hand up and down his cock. He applied more pressure to her hips because if she didn't slip himself inside of her very quickly, the show would be over way before he wanted it to be. "Gorgeous, please, let me get inside of you."

Haley licked her lips as she began to lower her hips towards his cock. She positioned him against her entrance, and she heard Nathan groan behind her. She ran his cock along her slit, gathering up her juices and moaned when she passed it over her clit, before she moved it back down to her entrance.

"Haley..." Nathan said in a strained voice, needing to be inside of her more than he'd ever needed anything before in his entire life. He couldn't take her teasing any longer, and he was mentally kicking himself for doing it to her earlier on. He just hoped she listened to the warning he had just given her, because he really was going to come far too early if she didn't at least relax the grip her hand had on his cock soon.

Haley heard the warning in Nathan's voice loud and clear, and deciding that she wanted him to come inside of her, and potentially make her come again too, she pushed his cock just inside of her pussy and then lowered herself onto him until she was filled right to the hilt. She groaned ridiculously loudly as he filled and stretched her, feeling his hands tense on her hips.

"God, I missed this... I missed you," Nathan moaned as he felt Haley sink onto him, her walls stretching to accommodate his girth and snugly wrapping around his cock. He felt her still once he was all the way inside of her and she shuddered slightly. His hands released the death grip they had on her hips and he rubbed soothing circles on her skin in apology for gripping her too hard.

"I know, it always feels so damn good, so right," Haley said as she felt Nathan's thumbs press lightly against her skin. Once she had become used to the sensation of feeling so full, she lifted herself up off of him, until just the tip of him was inside of her, before she lowered herself back down again. She continued this slow rhythm, and each time she sunk back down onto him, she groaned at the sensation and the pleasure she felt at having him inside of her.

Nathan kept his hands on Haley's hips, not wanting to push her and wanting to allow her to set the rhythm. She was moaning and breathing deeply each time she lowered herself down onto him, and he was sucking a sharp breath too, because she was right, it really did feel so damn good. After she had been riding him for a couple of minutes, he moved one of his hands to her back and pushed her forward a little. "Put your hands on my knees, gorgeous," he instructed, wanting her to lean forward a little so that he could go a little deeper and hit her in all the right places.

Haley did as he instructed and instantly felt the change he had intended her to feel. He was going much deeper at this angle and each pass meant that he was hitting her g-spot, which caused her to arch her back again and moan out in surprise each time he did. He moved his hands back to her hips and each time she lowered herself onto him, she felt him thrust his hips upwards, making him go even deeper. "Fuck, Nathan, that feels amazing," she moaned.

Nathan couldn't even form any words; he was just grunting each time he thrust his hips up into Haley, meeting her as she rode him. Their pace wasn't fast, it was reasonably slow, but it felt so intense. He was going so deep inside of her and she was moaning which made him want to come so badly. But he desperately wanted her to come first, so he moved one of his hands over her pelvic bone and slipped it down until he found her clit, causing her to gasp as he circled it lightly.

Haley moaned as she felt Nathan begin to trace circles around her clit, and she upped the pace of her movements in response, feeling her body tightening slightly. Nathan met her change in pace, and she felt his other hand clench onto her hip, pushing her down into the water slightly so that his thrusts had even more impact. The water was still bubbling around them, and she could feel the jets pushing against her body, creating a unique sensation on her legs and body which added to the pleasure she was feeling.

Nathan was grunting and panting and trying to up the pace even more. He increased the pressure of his finger against Haley's clit and heard her suck in a sharp breath in response. "Please, Haley, I don't think I can hold off much longer. You feel so fucking good, so fucking tight..." he said, pleading with her to come so that he could. There was no way that he was coming before her because he wanted to feel her muscles clenching around his cock like they had done to his fingers earlier.

Increasing her pace yet again, Haley moved herself up and down and felt Nathan thrust up into her harshly, hitting her right where she him wanted to. She felt the tightening in her stomach again and knew that she was about to come. "Oh God, Nathan, yes..." she hissed as she felt her muscles begin to clench and unclench around his cock, while he continued to pump himself in and out of her at a ferocious pace.

He was so close and while Haley was coming, he thrust into her harshly, desperately searching out the release that he could feel building inside of him rapidly. After a few more rounds of driving into her, Nathan groaned out her name as he came inside of her, stilling his movements as he felt his entire body shudder with the force of his climax.

Haley was still breathing deeply a minute later as she lifted herself off Nathan and leaned back against his chest, feeling his hands wrap around her body, holding her close to him. She smiled, feeling completely sated and sighed in satisfaction. "That was good. I mean, really good," she said, unable to keep the smile from spreading even wider over her face.

"It was," Nathan responded as he nuzzled his nose against her neck. He was definitely pleased that he'd paid the extra for the villa with the hot tub. It was totally worth it. Another comfortable silence fell over them as he revelled in the delight of feeling this close her once again.

* * *

Half an hour later, Haley was drying herself with a towel in the bedroom. She smiled over at Nathan as she watched him finish towelling his own body dry, and then he dropped the towel in a heap on the floor, causing her to roll her eyes at him. He shrugged in that arrogant way of his, and she knew he understood what she was rolling her eyes at. She folded up her towel and placed it on one of the chairs in the room. She grabbed one of the hair ties which was on the table beside her, tied her hair up and then jumped onto the bed. She began to crawl over to the other side so that she could reach the case he had packed for her and put on one of his t-shirts which he had brought for her to use to sleep in.

Nathan couldn't keep his eyes from roaming over Haley's backside. He would have felt bad about it, but when it was on display as it was, he figured it would be rude not to appreciate it. He felt himself grow hard again, and he licked his lips as his eyes remained glued to her ass. "We're not playing by the rules this weekend, then?" he asked, wanting to double check she hadn't said what she had earlier just as a heat of the moment thing.

Haley stopped crawling to the edge of the bed and turned her head so that she could look at Nathan. He had moved so that he was standing by the bed, and her eyes suddenly locked on his very erect cock. Desire and pure need raced through her veins. She bit down on her lip and shook her head at him, hoping he meant what she thought he meant.

Without even thinking about it, Nathan grabbed a hold of Haley's hips and buried himself in her warm, wet heat. He heard her moan out loud in response to his rapid movement. "Fuck…Haley," he groaned. "Are you ok?" He realised that he hadn't given her any sort of warning before he had entered her, and he wanted to make sure that she was alright before he moved another muscle. It was incredibly difficult for him to remain still when the only instinct he had was to pull out of her and thrust right back in, but somehow he managed it.

"God, Nathan. I'm fine, you feel so good!" Haley moaned, surprised at the fact that Nathan had just taken her like that. However, she was also incredibly aroused at how he'd just taken charge, and she felt herself get incredibly wet right where he was buried inside of her. The fact that he wanted her again so soon filled her with warmth and longing.

* * *

As soon as Nathan's breathing evened out, he pulled out of Haley, feeling completely spent and then suddenly realised that he had just taken her like an utter savage. He quickly lifted her up and turned her around so that she was facing him. His eyes ran over her face quickly, looking for any sign that he had hurt her. He stared intently into her eyes, as he couldn't see that anything was obviously wrong with her but he wanted to be sure. He cupped her face in his hands and furrowed his brow. "Did I hurt you?" he asked.

Haley smiled and placed her hands on Nathan's wrists, running her hands down his strong arms until she got to the crook in his elbows. "I loved it," she said honestly. She couldn't help but think of the item on her list which that had reminded her of, and she suddenly couldn't wait for the night when they would tick that off her list.

Nathan sighed in relief, for he could see that she wasn't lying to him and lowered his face to hers. He looked into her eyes and rested his nose between hers and her lips, his fingers tracing along her jaw, feeling so glad that he hadn't harmed her with his aggressive behaviour. He was still breathing rapidly from their rampant exercise, and his fingers eventually found themselves on Haley's lips. She parted them slightly and he ran his index finger through the gap she had created, utterly confused by the sudden rush of emotion he felt consume him entirely. The air felt thick with tension, and he couldn't see anything other than the beautiful woman in front of him. He moved his fingers back to Haley's jaw and tilted her mouth up to his.

Haley's heart was beating so fast she thought it was going to burst right out of her chest. She felt Nathan's hands lift her face slightly, and she looked into his eyes, perplexed by the feelings which were bubbling away inside of her. His breath fanned across her face, warm and sweet. She noticed that it was laboured and heavy though. Time seemed to slow completely, and everything moved in slow motion. It was taking her far too long to get to his lips.

**AN – There's a missing scene from this chapter which I'm offering as a deleted scene. It gives you a slight hint as to another item on Haley's list, but it's literally just smut (about 1,100 words). If you want a copy, then leave me a review and I'll send it to you. If you don't have a fanfiction account and want it too, leave spaces between your e-mail address otherwise I won't be able to read it. **

**I'm also offering a teaser for the next chapter as per usual. If you want to read it, then drop me a review, and I'll get it to you as soon as it's written.**

**I feel like I'm back in my writing groove at last, so the next chapter shouldn't be as long as this one took to write.**

**I've also started another story called Deception. You can find it on my fanfiction profile if you want to read it. It's very different from anything I've written so far...**

**Thanks for reading :o)**


	16. Chapter 16

**AN – I know it's been too long… AGAIN. No excuses just that life kind of got in the way.**

**A big thank you to those of you who reviewed the last chapter. Once again, your lovely words of encouragement put a big smile on my face. I hope you all got your deleted scenes at least, but if not, drop me a review and I'll get the last chapter's deleted scene out to you ASAP. If you didn't get the deleted scene, it is probably because you either don't allow PM's on your fanfiction account or I couldn't see your email address on your review.**

**If you didn't get a teaser, I'm really sorry. FF changed the system you use to reply to reviews in the time since I wrote the last chapter which meant that the link I usually use to reply to emails wouldn't work so I had to do everything through PM's instead, and you can only send 100 a day, which meant that the chapter was ready before I managed to get round to everyone! I figured you'd rather just read the whole chapter rather than 400 words of it!**

**Huge thanks goes out to my girls Rebecca and Kristen for their support and comments.**

**I'm going to be quiet now, because it has been an age since I updated and I'm sure you just want to read the story. A quick reminder from the end of previous chapter:**

_As soon as Nathan's breathing evened out, he pulled out of Haley, feeling completely spent and then suddenly realised that he had just taken her like an utter savage. He quickly lifted her up and turned her around so that she was facing him. His eyes ran over her face quickly, looking for any sign that he had hurt her. He stared intently into her eyes, as he couldn't see that anything was obviously wrong with her but he wanted to be sure. He cupped her face in his hands and furrowed his brow. "Did I hurt you?" he asked._

_Haley smiled and placed her hands on Nathan's wrists, running her hands down his strong arms until she got to the crook in his elbows. "I loved it," she said honestly. She couldn't help but think of the item on her list which that had reminded her of, and she suddenly couldn't wait for the night when they would tick that off her list._

_Nathan sighed in relief, for he could see that she wasn't lying to him and lowered his face to hers. He looked into her eyes and rested his nose between hers and her lips, his fingers tracing along her jaw, feeling so glad that he hadn't harmed her with his aggressive behaviour. He was still breathing rapidly from their rampant exercise, and his fingers eventually found themselves on Haley's lips. She parted them slightly and he ran his index finger through the gap she had created, utterly confused by the sudden rush of emotion he felt consume him entirely. The air felt thick with tension, and he couldn't see anything other than the beautiful woman in front of him. He moved his fingers back to Haley's jaw and tilted her mouth up to his._

_Haley's heart was beating so fast she thought it was going to burst right out of her chest. She felt Nathan's hands lift her face slightly, and she looked into his eyes, perplexed by the feelings which were bubbling away inside of her. His breath fanned across her face, warm and sweet. She noticed that it was laboured and heavy though. Time seemed to slow completely, and everything moved in slow motion. It was taking her far too long to get to his lips._

**Enjoy! x**

**Chapter Sixteen**

Nathan wasn't sure how he was able to breathe, or perform any other normal bodily functions because the moment he was currently caught in seemed far too surreal for it to be reality. Not quite believing that he was really here, he had to brush his fingertips along Haley's face just to prove that she was really there in front of him. His mind couldn't process anything, least of all how the hell he had ended up in this situation, and it felt like all his thoughts were whirling through his mind at a thousand miles per hour. A slight whimper escaped from between her lips which dispelled all his musings from his head. He realised in that instant that it didn't matter how or why he was about to kiss his best friend. It simply wasn't even worth analysing because he could just feel the charge in the air which swirled around him. He could feel it in the way that her soft, silky skin felt underneath his fingers, and he could see it while he watched her, completely mesmerised by her beauty as her eyelids fluttered closed. His eyes moved down to her mouth and he watched in rapt fascination as her lips pressed together so welcomingly. He realised in that moment that what was about to happen was in fact entirely right.

Haley tightened her grip on Nathan's arms as she felt his fingers brush gently across her face. She whimpered again and was slightly embarrassed about how desperate she was to move her lips slightly so that they were joined with his. But she looked up at him and saw that he was looking at her so intently, it seemed as if he was completely infatuated with her, and all her previous embarrassment dissipated because it was incredibly clear from the look he was giving her that he wanted this just as much as she did. She didn't even think about the rules she had demanded they create before this whole arrangement began. She didn't even think about the implications this kiss would have on their friendship with each other because in that moment it simply didn't matter. The intense feelings coursing through her veins like a wildfire were more than a want she felt to kiss him; she actually needed to kiss him. She was moving nearer and nearer to where she craved to be, and her eyelids fluttered closed as the anticipation rapidly flowed through her, causing her to shudder slightly.

Nathan's eyes roamed over her face quickly as he continued to lower his head, feeling Haley straining to reach him. Her fingers were digging desperately into his arms, and she kept making these incredibly sexy sounds. Her eyes were now closed, and he sucked in a deep breath, his mouth so close to hers he felt as if he could actually taste her. He moved his hands so that they were cupping her face delicately, and just as he was about to lower his head that last, final inch and at long last connect his lips with hers, a shrill ringing cut through the atmosphere like a knife. All the magic that had been in the air disappeared instantly and he dropped his hands from her face incredibly quickly. He could feel the heat rush through his body and it was as if touching her had scorched his skin to a crisp.

As soon as the incredibly loud, invasive noise hit Haley's ears, she snapped right out of what felt like an incredibly intense daydream and had to shake her head so that she could gather her thoughts again. She felt Nathan jump away from her as if being in such close proximity to her was endangering him somehow, and she looked at him in complete and utter confusion. Her lips were tingling, which was odd because he hadn't actually kissed her. She brought her hand up to touch her lips and dragged her fingers over them, trying to stop the strange sensation she was feeling because it felt too foreign for her body to cope with.

Nathan wasn't sure how he felt about the interruption. Part of him felt incredibly fucked off, because he had wanted to kiss her so damn much. But there was another part of him which was relieved for the disturbance, because the accompanying thought to the fact that he had wanted to kiss Haley, was one of complete and utter bewilderment. Why the hell had he wanted to kiss her so much? She was his best friend and best friends didn't kiss. He was vaguely aware of an incredibly annoying voice in his head which reminded him that best friends also don't sleep with each other, but he disregarded that thought as soon as it entered his head; they were protected from that oddity by an agreement and rules that they had both signed. So it didn't matter that it wasn't normal for them to sleep with each other... but it did matter that he wanted to kiss her, because that certainly wasn't normal, and wasn't in the realms of what they had agreed to. In fact, it was breaking the rules they had agreed at the start of all this.

The ringing sound continued and Haley glanced over at Nathan, who was still looking at her with an incredibly puzzled look on his face. She closed her eyes, unsure of how she was feeling at the moment because the only sound which was reverberating inside of her head was the infuriating noise of his mobile phone, and she just needed some peace and quiet so she could comprehend and understand how she was feeling after what had just nearly happened. "Nathan, will you answer your Goddamn phone," she snapped at him as she moved her hand into her hair, gathering a fistful and tugging on it as if she wanted to pull it from her head.

Nathan shook his head as he heard Haley's voice and attempted to clear the fog which was continually building inside his brain. He could still hear his phone ringing and realised that he needed to answer it. "Sorry," he muttered as he moved his eyes quickly around the room, trying to locate where the noise was coming from. He found his pants which were laying in a heap on the floor from when he had hastily changed into his board shorts earlier and stalked over to them. With each step he took he felt the anger bubble along his veins, already pissed off with whoever it was on the other end of the phone before he'd even looked to see who it was. The fact that he was irritated added to his confusion, because what other reason could there be for how he was feeling, other than the fact that he had wanted to kiss her more than he realised? He reached into his pocket and pressed the 'connect' button without even looking to see who was calling him. "What?" he barked into phone once he had placed it at his ear.

Haley cast her eyes over to where Nathan was standing and watched as he sighed in annoyance, hearing the feint chatter of whoever it was on the other end of the line carry over to where she was stood on the other side of the room. She drew in a breath and lowered her hand from her hair, only realising that her fist was shaking when she looked down at it. She honestly didn't know what to think about what had just very nearly happened. She was rather hoping that the peace and quiet would provide her with some much needed clarity, but even in the mere minutes which had passed everything just seemed to continue to become more and more convoluted.

Lucas held the phone away from his ear as his brother's rough voice snapped at him through the phone. "Dude, it's me. Where the hell are you?" he asked, picking himself up from his seat and walking towards a corner in the hope that he would be able to hear Nathan better if he moved away from the music which was blaring through the speakers.

Nathan couldn't help the fact that he rolled his eyes in frustration. He'd been interrupted because his dumb idiot of a brother wanted to know where he was? Who the hell did Lucas think he was, his father or something? "Are you serious?" he said, raising his voice automatically as a response to the agitation that was coursing its way through his system.

"What do you mean am I serious? I'm wondering where the hell you are, and where Haley is too. It's Friday night and you're not at the bar, and neither of you have bothered to pick your phones up all evening, or let us know in advance that you weren't even planning on coming out tonight," Lucas responded with a touch of audacity present in his voice. He wasn't going to let Nathan's sour mood affect him. He was being nice, worrying about his brother and Haley as he was. Last time he checked it wasn't a crime to care about your friends and family.

Nathan felt slightly guilty that he'd just had a go at Lucas, because he realised that in his haste to whisk Haley away for the weekend and make everything between them right again, he had completely forgotten to tell any of their friends that they wouldn't be attending the weekly drinks at the bar. But he didn't have it in him at the moment to admit that he'd been wrong to not warn them, because he was still incredibly confused about the nearly kiss he'd just shared with his best friend. "Well you know I'm okay now, so I'll speak to you later," he said, wanting to just get off the phone so that he could try to work out what the hell he was going to do about this whole mess he'd created with Haley.

Lucas' eyes moved over to the bar and he watched as Brooke came sauntering over to where he was standing. "I know you're okay, but what about Hal..." he started, and then felt Brooke trying to grab at the phone. He tried to lift his elbow up in the air so that she couldn't grab onto it in an attempt to snatch the phone from his ear, but she was clinging on and was winning the fight. He looked down at her with wide eyes. "Babe, I've got it."

Nathan rolled his eyes and sighed heavily. "Lucas, I'm fine okay so just…" he started but was soon cut off from continuing by Brooke who interrupted him mid-flow.

Brooke raised her eyebrows and smiled briefly in triumph at Lucas who had lost the battle, which he was always going to, and she brought the phone up to her ear. "Listen, Nathan, what the hell are you doing and where are you?" she snapped down the phone, wanting to cut right to the chase.

Nathan raised his arm and rubbed his hand across his forehead. It was bad enough having to speak to Lucas, but listening to Brooke twitter on and on was most definitely going to give him a headache, which was the last thing he needed at the moment. "I'm out, Brooke," he deadpanned.

"You don't say," Brooke responded in a sarcastic tone. "Out where?"

"What's it to you?" Nathan snapped back at her, moving his hand from his forehand and running it through his hair. If he had any sense he'd just hang up but he knew she'd just keep phoning until she got whatever answers she was looking for out of him.

Brooke began pacing and sighed heavily in frustration. Why Nathan could never give her a straight answer she'd never know. "Because it's Friday and you're not here, and neither is Haley. Because we've been calling both of you all evening and neither of you had the decency to answer your phones. You know the deal on Friday's, so I want to know where you are, because you're certainly not where you're supposed to be," she responded indignantly.

"Look, I'm fine, Haley's fine, everyone is fine, okay?" Nathan responded, wondering why he always seemed to face the Spanish Inquisition whenever he missed one of those silly Friday night meet ups.

"Where are you?" Brooke asked, determined to find out what Nathan had deemed to be of such significance, it was more important than meeting up with his friends, or at least was that important he couldn't even show the common courtesy of letting someone know he wouldn't be attending their regular rendezvous.

Nathan grabbed onto his hair with his hand and tugged on it in frustration. Did she ever let up? "I'm in a hotel," he said, wanting to be careful not to give too much away. The resort he and Haley were staying at was well known for being a romantic couples retreat, and he didn't want the aggravation or questions he knew he'd face if Brooke ever got wind of where they were staying. It was probably best if he didn't even mention Haley was here with him, because that might rouse unwanted suspicion, and Lord knew he and Haley had enough problems of their own to deal with without having to consider Brooke butting her unwanted nose into their business, especially after what had just nearly happened tonight.

"Is Haley with you?" Brooke questioned, a slight hint of surprise in her voice. She may be jumping to conclusions here, but how else would Nathan know that Haley was okay if she wasn't there with him? And if she was there with him, what the hell were they doing in a hotel together?

Nathan sighed heavily in complete and utter frustration. He ran his hand through his hair again and began to pace up and down the room. He knew he needed to keep the fact that Haley was here with him under wraps, but he was so confused about everything which had transpired that night that he couldn't think straight and instead decided to just ramble. "Why do you automatically assume that Haley is with me, huh? We're not joined at the hip; we don't spend every single second of every single day together. God, what is it with you lot? And don't even get me started on the whole Friday night thing. It's ludicrous to expect a group of six individuals to keep the same night free for eternity. I have a life which exists outside of the bubble the six of us seem to be trapped in, you know? I have a very demanding job, which you know keeps me extremely busy, so forgive me if I can't always commit to sitting in a bar once a week. And last time I checked, you weren't my mother so just back the hell off, Brooke…"

Brooke decided to interrupt Nathan, employing a slightly different tact. She could hear how worked up he was getting and hoped that his confusion and frustration would play right into her hands. "Can I speak to Haley?" she asked and then held her breath. She wasn't sure what it would mean if Haley was there with him, but she knew something fishy was going on and she couldn't wait to get to the bottom of it.

"Here she is," he said, pulling the phone away from his ear and holding it out towards Haley. Nathan was so wrapped up in his frustrations and the thoughts which were running through his head at a thousand miles per hour, it wasn't until Haley had walked over and put the phone to her ear that he realised his mistake, and also realised that he'd fallen right into the clever trap Brooke had created for him. He was usually much savvier than this. Obviously the mess with Haley was completely warping his brain. "Fuck!"

Haley gave Nathan a confused look as he swore out loud and put the phone to her ear. Before she could even ask who it was, or say hello she heard Brooke screech down the phone at her.

Now that Brooke knew for definite that Haley was there with Nathan, she started vibrating on the spot with excitement. She was trying to connect the dots in her head. Nathan, Haley and a hotel. It had to mean something. But just as she tried to entertain the idea of Nathan and Haley being together in that way, a big warning sign flashed in her head, reminding her of the fact that it was Nathan and Haley, and they weren't in a relationship, even though they acted like an old, married couple most of the time with each other. Even so, she still wanted details. "You're in a hotel room with Nathan? What the hell are you doing? And where the hell are you? And why the hell didn't you tell anyone where you were going?" Brooke rushed out in an extremely high pitched voice.

Haley sighed heavily, wishing that Nathan had pre-warned her of Brooke's inquisition before he had handed the phone to her. "Yes, I'm in a hotel room with Nathan," Haley responded, answering the first question. She considered the second question Brooke had asked and realised that she couldn't answer that one. What the hell was she doing? She had just been about to kiss her best friend. How screwed up was that? She decided to park that question in the hope that Brooke would forget she had asked it, and moved onto the third one. "I didn't tell you because Nathan had arranged this trip as a surprise, and I didn't know we were going anywhere until I finished work today."

Brooke considered Haley's answers to her questions. Something wasn't right here, best friends didn't whisk each other off on hotel breaks, as far as she was concerned. That was something which couples did. She was more confused the more she thought about it. Something wasn't adding up here. She decided to press on with some more questions, in the hope that she would have a light bulb moment once Haley had revealed some more details to her. "Well where are you?" she asked.

"We're in a hotel ,I already told you," Haley replied. She didn't want to give away too much because knowing Brooke, she'd turn up and surprise them or something and she really didn't want that to happen, not when she wasn't sure what the atmosphere between her and Nathan was going to be like considering what had happened tonight.

"I know that, what hotel?" Brooke asked, wanting to get some more information out of her friend. If it was a motel, she had nothing to worry about. If it was some fancy, romantic place, then she'd have more of a reason to wonder what was going on. She was vaguely aware of a little voice in the back of her head which told her that Nathan wouldn't ever slum it in a motel but she quietened it down, because in her head, her logic made sense.

Haley rolled her eyes and looked over to where Nathan was standing across the room. He had stopped pacing up and down now, which was something at least. She was trying to read him, but she couldn't make up her mind as to what she thought he was feeling. He was frustrated, she could see that in the way he looked like he was about to pounce on something, but she wasn't sure whether that frustration was directed at her for the nearly kiss, or Brooke for just being Brooke. "I can't remember the name of the hotel," she lied, knowing that if she revealed the name of this famous resort Brooke would immediately put two and two together and get five. Or was what Brooke would think actually right, and therefore mean she was getting her maths correct?

Brooke wasn't deterred by Haley's obvious lie. Who forgets the name of the hotel they're staying in when they only arrived that afternoon? "Well what's the hotel like?" she asked.

"It's nice," Haley responded vaguely.

"How nice?" Brooke questioned.

"Very nice, Brooke," Haley answered.

Nathan shook his head in complete and utter frustration. He couldn't listen to this anymore. His head was swimming with confusing thoughts and he just needed some peace and quiet for a second. He just needed to not think at all. "For God's sake," he muttered, loud enough so that Haley lifted her eyes again and glanced over at him. He crossed over towards where she was standing and found his suitcase. Grabbing a pair of lounge pants, he walked into the bathroom and slammed the door shut behind him.

Haley jumped a little when the door slammed shut and decided to move the conversation out onto the balcony. She didn't want to aggravate Nathan's irritation anymore than he was already and she presumed that he had gone to get himself ready for bed. She was vaguely aware of Brooke rambling on about something or another but she wasn't really listening. She sat herself down on one of the chairs and crossed her legs, her mind completely preoccupied with rerunning the entire night's events. How on Earth had she nearly kissed her best friend? She thought about the amazing time they'd had in the hot tub, and then again back in the room. Had something felt different tonight compared to all the other times they had ticked something off their lists?

Brooke stopped talking and waited for Haley's reaction to what she had said. When there wasn't one, she decided to continue on. "It just doesn't seem right, you and Nathan staying together like that. I wonder if I'm missing something…"

Nathan walked into the bathroom and threw his lounge pants onto the floor before he leaned his arms against the sink, bowing his head and closing his eyes. He took ten deep breaths and tried to banish all thoughts of what had happened tonight from his head. He just didn't want to think about it, actually, he simply couldn't think about it. Once he had counted to ten, he opened his eyes and stared at his reflection in the mirror. He glared at himself for a good thirty seconds, berating himself for doing something so stupid. How could he have nearly kissed Haley, how could he jeopardise their friendship like that? Realising that his ten second trick hadn't worked, he growled at himself and turned the shower on, stepping under the spray before the water had even got hot, hoping the cold would wake his obviously sleepy brain up. He decided that he was just tired from the drive and all he needed was to go to sleep. Everything would be alright in the morning. It had to be.

The most annoying thing about Haley's thoughts was the fact that she couldn't process them at all. Absolutely none of what she was feeling made sense. She was a logical girl and liked to understand everything, but this was so convoluted she couldn't see the wood for the trees. She was racking her brains for a meaning behind the feelings she had felt completely overwhelm her body when she and Nathan were about to kiss. But she quickly found that she couldn't come up with one. It was absolutely infuriating and was starting to worry her.

Brooke finished her extremely long winded musings and became quiet again, sure that Haley would have at least something to say to her accusations. However, once she had repeated Haley's name three times, it was clear that she wasn't listening at all. "Haley?" Brooke screamed down the phone, wondering if she had in fact hung on her.

Hearing Brooke scream her name caused Haley to jump out of her seat. She pulled the phone away from her ear and realised that she had been on the phone to Brooke for a good twenty minutes now. Completely distracted, and realising that she really needed to analyse this situation further, she decided that the background noise Brooke had been provided was a source of why she couldn't understand this mess. "I'm sorry, Brooke, I'm going to have to go. See you soon," she said and then hung up the phone, placing it on the small table beside where she was sitting.

Nathan had been in bed for about ten minutes now and couldn't seem to fall asleep, which was pissing him off further. He wondered where Haley had got to because once he had stepped out of the shower she wasn't in the bedroom where he had left her. However, he had managed to convince himself that all this mess would go away if he managed to get to sleep so instead of concentrating fully on Haley's whereabouts, he crawled into the bed and had tried to get to sleep. Sleep, however, was completely evading him, because he couldn't seem to stop wondering where Haley was. What if she'd wandered outside and had tripped up and hurt herself? Or what if someone had abducted her? He knew his thoughts were completely irrational, but they were worrying him nonetheless. He sat up and switched the light on for a brief second, about to get out of bed and start a mammoth search party when he heard her voice coming from the balcony. Breathing a sigh of relief, he settled back in bed and concentrated all his efforts on falling asleep.

Haley stared into the darkness, hoping to shed a ray of light on her feelings, but the dense blackness in front of her was rather symbolic of the state of her mind at the moment. There was no light inside her head at the moment at all. No answers, just endless questions and it was starting to drive her insane.

Nathan stared at the sliding door which led to the balcony and wondered what was taking Haley so long? She couldn't still be on the phone to Brooke, a good half an hour had passed since he'd walked into the bathroom. He debated with himself as to whether he should go and check that she was okay, but if she wasn't okay, he didn't know how he would handle that along with all the other mess which had happened that evening. In fact, the more he thought about it, the more obvious it became to him that she clearly wasn't okay, because who would be after what had happened that evening. Hell, he didn't even think he was okay with it all. However, he decided that if she wanted to be near him, she would be in here with him not shut out there by herself, so he decided to not go and ask if she was okay.

After what felt like hours of soul searching, Haley was no nearer to finding the answers to the questions she was asking herself. She decided that she'd sleep on it and see how she felt in the morning. Hopefully she'd be able to see some clarity on the whole situation and once her feelings had settled down some more she was sure things would be much clearer. She got up from the chair she had curled up in and stretched her legs when she felt how numb they had become from sitting in one position for too long. Once her legs felt like they had some life in them, she walked over to the sliding door and opened it, stepping into the room before closing it behind her. She stopped in her tracks when she re-entered the room because all she could see was the image of Nathan being on the cusp of kissing her. She quickly shook the memory from her head, feeling the blood rise in her cheeks, and rushed over to the first suitcase she could find, and pulling out something to wear before hiding herself away in the bathroom.

Nathan rolled his eyes as he watched Haley run across the room and then into the bathroom. It was no surprise that she had done that, and he knew that she would be mulling the whole situation over in that head of hers for a ridiculously long period of time. In true Haley fashion, he wouldn't be shocked if at some point in the future, maybe even if they were lying on their death beds having a disagreement, she'd bring up the night they almost kissed as an argument against him. He smiled a little at the thought of it and rolled himself over, pleased that she'd at least come back inside.

Haley turned on the bathroom light, threw the item of clothing she had brought into the bathroom with her onto the floor and splashed her face with some cold water. When that didn't clear the fog from her mind, she began to brush her teeth and then brushed her hair, sure that if she kept to the same old, well practiced nightly routine, somehow everything would return to normal. She almost scoffed to herself when that though entered her head. How could anything return to normal after what had happened? Looking down at what she had brought into the bathroom with her, she rolled her eyes when she saw that she had grabbed one of Nathan's t-shirts rather than something from her own bag. She put it on regardless of who's it was because she couldn't be bothered to go and change out of it. She then walked towards the door, fully intent on just breezing back into the room as if nothing had happened, but she found that she couldn't seem to get herself to open the door. Berating herself at how stupid she was being, after all, it was only Nathan who was out there, Nathan who had been her best friend since forever, she took a deep breath and forced her hand to open the door.

Nathan could feel the light from the bathroom flood into the room but he didn't open his eyes. Instead, he just waited for the feint light to disappear and for Haley to get into bed with him. Once a good minute had passed, he wondered why he could still see the light, and then he sighed to himself as he squinted one eye open and glanced towards the bathroom, seeing Haley standing in the doorway, wringing her hands together and biting down on her lip. "Gorgeous, are you coming to bed or are you planning on sleeping standing up?"

Haley nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard Nathan's voice. She had simply assumed that he had been asleep. She cursed to herself because the light from the bathroom had probably woken him up and now getting into bed with him was going to be even more awkward than if he had just been asleep. She was also surprised at how normal Nathan's voice was. Had what happened earlier not affected him at all? She disregarded that thought entirely because she couldn't be the only one who was feeling so confused, and if he thought everything was fine between them, then he was clearly deluding himself. Deciding that if he could play it cool, then so could she, she turned off the bathroom light and walked around to the other side of the bed to where Nathan was laying. "Did I wake you up?" she asked as she pulled the covers back and then climbed into bed.

"Hmmm, kind of. I was sort of dozing," Nathan responded and then rolled over so that he was facing away from Haley. Now that she was next to him everything seemed to be even more vivid inside his mind. He could feel her soft skin under his fingertips, he could almost taste her again, and he grew incredibly confused once more at why he was feeling like this.

Haley lay on her back and stared up at the ceiling. "Sorry," she said although she didn't even really hear herself say it, because once again her mind was whirling with questions she didn't have the answers to.

Nathan tried his hardest to fall asleep again but he sighed after a good ten minutes had passed and shifted himself around so that he too was laying on his back like Haley was. He opened his eyes stared into the darkness. He needed to break the silence somehow, because it was the noisy kind of silence and neither of them were going to get any rest if this continued. "You know, you're thoughts are so loud I can practically hear them myself," he said, and then mentally cursed himself because the last topic of conversation he wanted to talk about was what had happened tonight. Quite frankly, after much deliberation with himself, he was of the opinion that acting like nothing had happened was by far the best thing to do. And besides, they hadn't kissed, so no rules had been broken and nothing technically had happened.

"I'm sorry," Haley said and sighed heavily to herself. She tucked the covers more tightly around her body and rolled over onto her side so that she was facing away from Nathan. She closed her eyes and begged sleep to come quickly, though with how preoccupied her mind was she was guessing it wasn't going to come around anytime soon.

Nathan rolled his eyes to himself as she apologised once again. Was that the only thing she was going to say to him? "You don't have to be sorry, gorgeous," he replied. If anything, he was sure that he should be apologising for nearly kissing her. However, he couldn't quite bring himself to say it, because he wasn't sure if he really was sorry for nearly doing that.

It suddenly dawned on Haley that all this could mean big problems for their relationship. She had been so caught up in what her feelings regarding the nearly kiss had been, she had failed to see the big picture, which was that things could turn really weird between the two of them. The thought almost made her feel sick and she turned her head slightly so that she could look back at Nathan's figure in the bed behind her. "Nathan?"

"Haley?" Nathan responded as he turned his head slightly towards her.

"We're going to be okay, aren't we? I mean, nothing's going to change?" Haley asked, unable to keep the worry and angst out of her voice. If he said no, she wasn't sure what she would do. Nathan was the most important person in her life and the thought that she could have jeopardised her relationship with him was almost too much for her to even comprehend.

Nathan frowned as he processed her question and then shook his head at the doubt which started to creep into his mind. He shuffled his body over to where Haley was laying, sharing her pillow with her and positioned himself behind her, wrapping his arm tightly around her body. "Of course nothing's going to change. We're Nathan and Haley. Nothing can shake our friendship." He moved his head slightly and placed a kiss on her shoulder. He felt Haley's entire body relax as his words sunk into her body and he settled himself down again, breathing in the scent of her. An incredibly strong possessive wave rushed through his body. He couldn't lose her, not ever. And he wasn't going to let some stupid nearly kiss spoil things between them. "I mean it, Hales. Nothing," he repeated, although as he closed his eyes he wasn't sure whether he was trying to convince her, or himself.

Nathan awoke the next morning to find that he and Haley had moved positions during the night. He was now back on his own pillow, but it seemed that Haley had followed him during the night, because she was now tucked tightly to his chest. He carefully moved back a little and watched as she frowned in her sleep, before she shuffled over and then settled back in exactly the same position she had been in before, tucked tightly to his chest. He chuckled quietly to himself and wrapped his arm around her, placing a kiss on the top of her head.

His thoughts quickly started to drift back to the previous night's events, but he stopped them from progressing any further, determined to make sure that, as he had promised, nothing would change between him and Haley.

So instead of thinking about last night, he began to think of ideas for what they could get up to today. He hadn't planned anything beforehand, but after the madness of last night he figured that an action-packed day would be the perfect way to keep both of their minds from wandering down unwelcome paths.

He began to formulate a few ideas in his head and felt Haley begin to stir in her sleep. He moved his head away from her body and brushed some of her hair out of her face, placing it securely behind her ear as her eyelids fluttered open. "Good morning, gorgeous," he said as a smile stretched across his face. He realised in that moment, with the sun pouring through a gap in the curtains and shining on her face, just how much he enjoyed waking up with her.

Haley blinked the sleep away from her eyes and smiled back at Nathan. However, as soon as her eyes focussed and she connected her gaze with his, memories of last night came rushing back and she could feel her entire body tense up. She couldn't understand how Nathan could act so nonchalant about everything.

Nathan could see Haley tighten up as the realisation of what had happened last night dawned on her, but he had promised her last night that nothing would change, and instead of focussing all his energy on worrying about what had happened, he focussed it all on ensuring that he kept his promise. So he decided to carry on as he would any other normal day. "So what do you fancy doing today?" he asked. "I have a few ideas but if there's something in particular you want to do then we can just do that."

Haley frowned as she watched Nathan carry on as if absolutely nothing had happened last night. How could he do that? How could he just chatter on about what activities they were going to do today when they had some real problems to talk about?

Nathan threw the covers back from the bed and jumped out, walking over to his suitcase. Haley still wasn't talking, which wasn't a good thing and a feeling of pure dread began to swim along his veins. He decided to try one last time. "So, is there anything you want to do, gorgeous?"

Haley considered Nathan's question as she watched him root around in his suitcase. She pondered his behaviour for a good minute and then came to the conclusion that if he could act as he was and not feel any sort of confusion, then she shouldn't worry herself with those thoughts either. He had taken her away to a lovely hotel and regardless of what had or hadn't happened last nights, she really didn't want to enjoy some quality time away with him. Pleased that she had reached a satisfactory decision, she threw the covers back from her side of the bed and jumped out. "Whatever you want is fine. I don't really know what there is to do around here anyway. Is it okay if I use the shower first?" she asked as she walked into the bathroom and began to close the door with a big grin on her face.

Nathan breathed a huge sigh of relief as he heard Haley respond to his question. It seemed she was on the same page as he was with regards to last night. He continued to look in his suitcase for the t-shirt he had packed for the day and grew incredibly confused when he couldn't find it. He then looked up at Haley as she asked him whether she could use the shower and he scowled as he finally found his t-shirt, which was on her body. "Hales, that's the only t-shirt I bought with me, and I was just about to use the shower!" he moaned.

"Well, you should have got to the bathroom quicker, shouldn't you?" Haley responded with a cheeky lint to her voice.

"I would have got there first, if someone hadn't decided to sleep in my t-shirt," Nathan returned, raising his eyebrow at Haley and folding his arms across his chest, trying to look as threatening as he could.

Haley smiled back at him, trying her best to look as angelic as possible. "I couldn't find anything else."

"Liar, you just couldn't be bothered to find anything else. I packed my old college t-shirt for you to sleep in," Nathan replied.

"Well, I couldn't find it. You can still wear this one anyway, what's the big deal?" Haley said and then shrieked as Nathan charged towards the door, before she slammed the bathroom door shut and quickly held the handle up and pressed her back against the door so that he couldn't get in with her.

Nathan smiled as he pushed the door handle down, only to be met with unexpected force. He pushed against the door but realised he needed to press the handle down to open it, only Haley was holding the handle up. He tried to push the handle down with a little force, but nothing too excessive because he didn't want Haley to hurt herself, because if he wanted to, he could get in easily. Once he had done that a few times, he banged on the door three times. "Haley, are you going to open the door?" he asked with a smile on his face.

"No," Haley responded, a smile spreading across her face too. She was still holding the door handle up, even though Nathan hadn't tried to press it down for a good thirty seconds.

"Are you going to wash my t-shirt for me?" Nathan questioned.

"Why would I do that?" Haley asked.

"Because I have nothing else suitable to wear today, and if you don't wash it, I'll smell like a damn girl all day," Nathan responded.

"I don't smell bad!" Haley replied with a slight hint of audacity in her voice.

Nathan smiled to himself as he heard her response. "Yes, you do Hales," he returned.

"Do not," Haley shouted back through the door, sniffing the t-shirt just to make sure. She was right, she didn't smell at all.

"Do."

"Not."

"Do."

"Not."

Nathan chuckled to himself, realising that this could, and most likely would go on all day if he didn't concede. "Fine, you don't. But you'd better hurry up in the shower because we have a lot of things to do today," he said.

"Nathan?" Haley asked as she stepped away from the door and turned the shower on.

"Yes, gorgeous," Nathan replied as he walked back to the bed and flopped down on it, waiting for Haley to finish in the bathroom.

Haley smiled as she pulled Nathan's t-shirt over her head, covered herself with her free hand and opened the door slightly, before throwing the t-shirt towards Nathan, grinning when it landed directly on his stomach. "I don't know why you're complaining, I smell much nicer than you do."

Nathan shook his head as he watched Haley shut the door to the bathroom, brining his t-shirt up so that he could smell it. He couldn't argue with her really, because Haley was right, she did smell much nicer than he did. He was pretty sure she had the nicest smell in the world.

Once Nathan had got out of the shower and had told Haley that she needed to change into her bikini, much to her annoyance because she had already got herself ready, they wandered back through the woods towards the main building of the hotel. "So, what are we doing today?" Haley asked as she upped her pace so that she could keep up with Nathan's quick step. Whatever they were doing, he was clearly excited about it because he was practically running to get to the main building.

Nathan glanced over at Haley as the main building came into view. "It's a surprise," he responded as he continued to head towards the reception area of the hotel. He really hoped she liked what he had planned while she was in the shower. He had spoken to the woman at reception, Charlotte, and explained what he had wanted to do and she had said she could have everything ready in an hour, which he was very impressed with.

"Well I'm going to find out in a second, so you might as well tell me!" Haley said petulantly. Nathan was still racing ahead of her and when he reached the door to the reception area, he held it open for her.

"Patience, Haley, is a virtue," Nathan responded with a smile as Haley walked inside the main building.

Haley scowled at Nathan and folded her arms across her chest. She really didn't like surprises. "One which I do not possess," she returned.

"Clearly!" Nathan replied with a chuckle as he made his way over to the reception desk. "Hi, I'm Nathan Scott, I called about an hour ago with a special request."

"Ah, Mr Scott! Everything has been arranged," Charlotte responded and then bent down to retrieve the cool box which had been pre packed as per Mr Scott's request.

"Thank you," Nathan returned and took the cool box from Charlotte's hands.

"Paolo is waiting for you," Charlotte said with a smile.

Haley couldn't quite understand what Nathan had planned as she tried to piece the jigsaw together. He had a cool box in his hands which suggested a picnic or something perhaps, but he had told her to put her bikini on, and some guy called Paolo was apparently waiting for them.

"Excellent," Nathan returned and smiled back at the helpful receptionist.

"You've got a very thoughtful husband there, Mrs Scott," Charlotte said as she turned towards the woman who was standing next to Mr Scott.

Nathan couldn't feel the whole atmosphere shift as what Charlotte had said registered with both himself and Haley. He felt like kicking the woman for assuming that they were married, because marriage implied a real relationship between two people, and after what had happened last night, things between himself and Haley were clearly so unstable it could all come crashing down in an instant.

Haley tensed up when she heard the receptionist call her Mrs Scott. It wasn't the first time people had assumed herself and Nathan were together but after the madness of last night, she felt the weirdness begin to creep into her brain. She glanced over at Nathan who was looking like a rabbit caught in the headlights, carefully waiting for her next move. She quickly decided that she wasn't going to let this ruin the day that Nathan had planned for them. Turning her attention back to Charlotte, she reached her hand down and grabbed onto Nathan's. "I know I am, he's such a wonderful husband," she said and then smiled at both Charlotte and Nathan.

Nathan frowned in confusion as he felt Haley grab onto his hand and heard her response. He looked down at her and saw that she was smiling sweetly at him, and then he realised that she was playing along, and not letting the events of last night ruin the weekend, which he was incredibly grateful for. He cleared his throat and glanced back over at Charlotte. "Well, we'd better go and meet Paolo then," he said.

"Absolutely, he's waiting to give you the demonstration," Charlotte replied.

Haley grew even more confused when she heard Charlotte say they were getting a demonstration. However, she shook the curiosity from her body and instead focussed all her energy on making sure she enjoyed her day out with Nathan.

"Well thank you for your help," Nathan said and then turned around so that he could lead Haley away from the reception building. He dropped Haley's hand as they reached the doors and he held it open for her, allowing her to walk through first.

"Which way?" Haley asked as Nathan walked through the door behind her.

"This way," Nathan said as he pointed in the opposite direction to their room and watched as Haley walked along the path in front of them. He quickly caught up with her and fell into her stride beside her. "So… Mrs Scott?"

Haley giggled and grabbed onto Nathan's hand again. If they were going to pretend that last night didn't happen, then she might as well pretend to be someone else for the weekend. "Why not, just for the weekend? I think it's got quite a nice ring to it. Mrs Haley Scott. It doesn't sound too bad, does it?"

Nathan shook his head and smiled at her as he gripped onto her hand tighter. "I suppose it doesn't sound too bad at all."

The surprise Nathan had planned was a day out on an incredibly luxurious speedboat. Paolo had given Nathan a quick demonstration on shore and then they had been left to their own devises. Nathan had sailed them around the vast lake and when he had got too hot, he had jumped into the lake for a quick swim. Haley had decided to stay dry and as Nathan was drying himself off and putting his t-shirt back on, she had decided to take to the helm.

"Haley," Nathan said in an incredibly stern tone, "I thought you said that you knew what you were doing. In fact, I know you know what you're doing, I taught you how to sail a boat, and definitely not this badly! What the hell happened?" He arched his eyebrow at her and folded his arms across his chest. It was clear that she didn't have a clue about what she was doing. But he was going to humour her. Surely she'd pick it up again soon enough. He shook his head at her, knowing that he should give her a bit of a break; it had been a good few years since they'd been out on the Scott family boat after all. But all she needed to do was flick the switch. Not that he was going to tell her... yet.

"I do know what I'm doing, Nathan," Haley huffed back at him. However, the truth of the matter was that she didn't actually have a clue. She'd forgotten everything Nathan had taught her. But she was too proud to tell him so, and as she glanced over at him, she saw that he had that incredibly smug look he was famous for slapped right across his face. She vowed to herself that she wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of being right. She just needed to remember how to sail the damn thing.

"You're right, gorgeous. I'm sorry, I know you know what you're doing," Nathan said as he raised his hands up in the air in mock surrender. He had to turn around and face the lake in an effort to stop himself from laughing at her.

Haley had exhausted every option on the dashboard, and the damn boat still wasn't starting. She tapped the steering wheel in frustration, and glanced over at Nathan. She very nearly opened her mouth and asked him for help, but thought better of it, he'd only tease her relentlessly, because she had blatantly missed something so simple. Yes, it had to be simple. She ran her finger over the options again, trying to decipher which button would bring the boat to life.

Nathan had to bite down on his lip to stop himself from bursting out in laughter as he turned himself around and saw Haley trying to work out which switch she needed to press. He took a few deep breaths and once he had calmed himself down, he walked towards where she was standing. "Everything okay, gorgeous?"

Haley glared up at Nathan, who had walked right over to where she was trying to start the boat. Clearly, he just wanted to rub the fact that she couldn't remember how to start the damn boat right in her face. "Yes, everything's fine," she responded resiliently.

"You sure about that?" Nathan asked, giving Haley another opportunity to admit defeat and concede to the fact that she didn't have a clue. Of course, this was Haley in front of him, and he certainly didn't expect her to give in so easily.

Haley ignored Nathan's question and once again began to deliberate over which switch would start the stupid boat. There were so many, and she really didn't want to press the wrong one and cause an explosion on something equally disastrous. Not only would that cost a hell of a lot of money to fix, because if she knew one thing about boats, it was that they weren't cheap, and also Nathan wouldn't let her ever hear the end of it.

Nathan watched Haley struggle for another five minutes, before he conceded himself. He walked behind her, grabbed her hand and led her finger to the right switch. "It's that one, gorgeous," he whispered in her ear, and then casually walked towards the front of the boat.

Haley sighed to herself and watched as Nathan walked back towards the front of the boat. He stripped off his t-shirt and sat himself down on the padded mats on the boat before turning around so that he was facing her. He looked like he was waiting for her to start the thing so she pressed the button Nathan had showed her and the boat surged to life. She smiled at him in thanks and then began to move the boat forwards so that they were heading away from the shore of the massive lake and into the middle of it.

Once Haley was happy with the spot she had steered them to, she cut the engine. She glanced over at Nathan and shook her head at him, before she walked over to the cool box, hoping that he'd had the sense to ask Charlotte to pack some sun cream for them. Surprisingly, she found sun cream in the box, and grabbed it along with two bottles of water. She wandered over to where Nathan was sunbathing and watched as her shadow fell over his body.

Nathan could feel the temperature drop slightly and he opened his eyes, finding Haley standing above him. He sat himself up a little and looked around, seeing that they were bobbing along in a secluded part of the lake.

"Here," Haley said as she threw the sun cream towards Nathan's body, watching as he caught the bottle effortlessly. "You'll start to burn if you don't put some on soon." She sat down beside him and peeled off her strappy top and her shorts, throwing them aside and leaving her dressed in her bikini, before she lay down and closed her eyes, enjoying the warmth of the sun on her skin.

Nathan sat up and squirted some of the sun cream into his hands before spreading it over his body. While he was rubbing the cream into his skin, he looked over at Haley, who was stretched out on the mats. His eyes roamed over her whole body, taking in every gorgeous curve as if he'd never seen her this exposed before, which clearly wasn't the case, but still he was completely mesmerised with her. She had started to put on a little bit of weight since she'd stopped running with that idiot dude from the gym. He knew it would be hardly noticeable to anyone else's eye, but he could see the slight, healthy roundness she had on her stomach. Once he had ensured he had covered his body with cream, he held the bottle out to Haley. "Hales, you need to put some on too," he said.

"Thanks," Haley responded as she sat up and took the bottle Nathan was offering to her. She squirted some cream into her hand and then began to rub it into each of her legs first. She then moved to her arms and shoulders, before placing some cream on her face. She then lay back down on the mat and rubbed some into her stomach. She thought about the dress Nathan had packed for her to wear tonight and remembered that it was a strapless one, and she didn't really want any strap marks, so she lifted her head and unknotted the tie from her neck.

Nathan turned his head and watched as Haley began to tie the string meant to be tied at the back of her neck on her back. He frowned as he watched her struggle to reach. "What are you doing?" he asked in confusion.

"I don't want any tan lines," Haley responded as she continued to struggle with the ties.

Nathan shook his head and turned his face back towards the sun. "Just take the top off," he said as he closed his eyes again and continued to sunbathe.

Haley never went topless, and she was shocked that Nathan had suggested such a thing. "Take it off?" she said in an incredulous tone, as if the very thought of sunbathing topless was so ridiculous, he had been a complete fool to suggest it in the first place.

"Why not?" Nathan returned. "It's not as if I've not seen it all before. And in case you hadn't noticed, we're in the middle of a huge lake. It's not as if there's a whole load of people who will be looking at you. No one will see you."

Haley considered what Nathan had just said and realised that he was right. She'd not even seen another boat on the lake when she had been steering this one, and as he had pointed out, he'd seen her naked loads of times before. Hell, last night she was wandered into the hot tub completely naked. So she lowered her hands and untied the lower knot, before throwing her bikini top onto the pile of clothes she had already disregarded. Putting some more sun cream onto her chest, she laid down once she had finished and closed her eyes.

Half an hour passed in near silence. Nathan had just asked Haley whether it was okay for him to have one of the bottles of water she had bought over with her, before they had settled back into silence. The silence wasn't awkward, not by any stretch of the imagination, but every time Nathan turned his head subtly towards her body and sneaked a peek at her fantastic breasts was turning into severe torture. He did it again, unable to resist the temptation laid out next to hum, and almost had to suppress the moan he could feel beginning to escape through his lips, before he quickly turned his head back again. He was cursing himself for suggesting that she take that stupid bikini top off. It would be much easier for him to relax if she was still wearing it.

Haley turned her head towards Nathan and opened her eyes, trying to find her water bottle. Once she located it, she sat up and took a swig of the liquid, before turning her eyes over to Nathan's body, and she was surprised to find that he was watching her. "What are you looking at?" she asked.

Nathan almost blushed as he realised he had been caught staring at Haley. However, his eyes dropped to her full breasts for a moment before he forced them back up to her face and all his previous embarrassment was forgotten as he felt his cock begin to take notice of the sexy woman sat next to him. "I'm looking at you, gorgeous," he returned and then smiled at her.

"Why are you looking at me?" Haley questioned, feeling slightly exposed and vulnerable, as she always tended to whenever someone looked at her like that. She wished that she didn't feel like she did, but she guessed it was just a product of how incredibly insecure she had been about her body when she was at college, and of course her illness.

Nathan sat up and shuffled himself over towards Haley. He sat himself in front of her and lifted his hand so that he could lift her chin and make sure that she was looking at him. Once he was sure he had all of her attention, he asked her a question. "Why are you hiding?"

"Because..." Haley started, and then realised that she didn't actually have a reason to feel as embarrassed as she did. It was Nathan in front of her, and he was her best friend, and was someone she knew would never judge her like that. And it wouldn't make a difference if it was someone else who was in front of her for that matter.

Nathan shook his head at her. It was typical Haley behaviour to get all embarrassed about her body, but she had no reason to at all. "You're beautiful, Haley."

Haley breathed in deeply and lowered her gaze from Nathan's, before raising her eyes back to meet him again. She could see the sincerity in his eyes and it almost overwhelmed her completely. "Thank you," she said, knowing that in his eyes, she really was beautiful.

Nathan was quite surprised with Haley's response to his statement. He had been expecting her to argue back with him, to tell him that he was being stupid, but he was pleased that she had simply accepted what he had said. "You're welcome, gorgeous," he returned and smiled at her. "Now, do you want some lunch?"

"Lunch sounds like an amazing idea. I'm quite hungry actually," Haley responded. She watched as Nathan stood up and once she had put her bikini top back on, she began to get up herself so that she could help him, watching as he walked over to get the cool box from the other side of the boat.

Nathan grabbed the cool box and brought it back over to the mats on the front of the boat. Of course, the first thing he noticed was that Haley had put her bikini top back on. He couldn't decide if he was glad of the fact that he wouldn't be distracted by her amazing breasts, or disappointed because they were now covered up slightly. He unpacked the food, leaving the champagne and strawberries in the cool box while they ate the lunch the restaurant back at the hotel had kindly put together for them to eat while they were out for the day.

Haley had completely devoured the delicious sandwiches and snacks the hotel had prepared for them, and even though the beef sandwich which was still sat on her plate was absolutely scrumptious, she couldn't possibly eat another bit of food. Admitting defeat, she placed the plate down beside her. "If I eat another mouthful of food I think I might explode," she said as she patted her belly.

Nathan chuckled as he leaned over Haley and grabbed her plate, before he walked over to the cool box. He put the unwanted food in a carrier bag and placed the plates back inside the box once he had grabbed the champagne, strawberries and two glasses. He held them up in the air as he walked back over to Haley. "You've not even got some room for these?" he asked, raising his eyebrow as he sat himself back down on the mats.

Haley grinned as she reached over and grabbed a strawberry, biting into the juicy fruit. "There's always room for dessert!" she exclaimed.

"I thought so!" Nathan responded, as he opened the bottle of champagne and poured it out into the two waiting glasses. He topped them up once the bubbles had settled a little and then passed one of the glasses over to Haley.

"Thanks," Haley said as she accepted the glass Nathan was offering her. "Are we toasting anything?"

Nathan pondered over what they could toast to, looking out over the seemingly never ending lake that they were currently bobbing on. He thought back over the journey he and Haley had been on over the years, and how their relationship with each other had changed, most significantly over the last couple of months. He couldn't remember a time when they were closer, and she truly was the only person in the whole world for whom he would give up everything for. "How about we toast our friendship?" he suggested.

"I think that is an excellent idea," Haley said as she raised her glass in the air, waiting for Nathan to say something.

Nathan followed suit with Haley and raised his glass in the air. He thought carefully about what he wanted to say, and took a deep breath before he opened his mouth. "I don't quite know how we got here, Hales, but I just want you to know that you're always going to be the most important person in my life. I wouldn't want to be on this boat with anyone else in the world."

Haley could feel the blood rushing to her cheeks as she heard Nathan's words. She could see the sincerity in his eyes and the moment was becoming far too serious again. The atmosphere felt similar somehow, and as soon as that thought entered Haley's head, the image of them both nearly kissing last night came right into the forefront of her mind. She needed to break the silence which was growing louder and louder with each second that passed, but all she could see in her head was that nearly kiss. She needed a distraction quickly. "You know, you could have just said, 'to us', Nathan, instead of going all soppy on me," she said and smiled at Nathan in the hope that he understood what she was doing.

Nathan shook his head and chuckled at her. "Well that's just charming, isn't it? I give a really sentimental speech, which is completely disregarded and unappreciated. I won't bother next time!" he jested with her.

"You don't need to bother," Haley responded. She said it with a joking lint to her voice, but the reason that Nathan didn't need to bother was because he wasn't saying anything she didn't already know.

"Oh really?" Nathan returned. He grinned over at Haley as he jumped up and rushed over to the cool box, grabbing the can of squirty cream. He held turned around and hid the can behind his back, slowly walking back over to Haley.

Haley had laid back down on the mats, wanting to catch a few more rays once Nathan had wandered off somewhere. She lifted her head slightly when she heard some noise, seeing Nathan walking towards her with a sly grin on his face. She knew trouble was coming, and she could see that he was hiding something behind his back. "What have you got there, Nathan?" she asked.

"Never you mind," Nathan responded as he halted his movement once his was in front of Haley.

"Judging by the crafty look on your face, I think I do need to mind!" Haley replied and then before she knew what was happening, Nathan had squirted some cream right in the middle of her stomach, which was freezing cold and made her yelp in surprise. "Nathan! What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Nathan laughed as he saw Haley's surprised face and continued to squirt even more cream on her outstretched body. "Just getting my own back," he said.

"Your own back for what?" Haley asked, wondering how he could justify squirting cream all over her stomach.

"For you mocking my toast!" Nathan answered. By now, Haley's stomach was completely covered in cream, so he decided to be nice and stop.

Haley opened her mouth in complete shock. "How does me teasing you ever so slightly mean that it's okay for you to do this to me?" she asked. She looked down at her stomach and shook her head in utter disbelief. "Nathan, I'm completely covered in cream!"

"Well, technically only your stomach is covered in cream, but I can get the rest of you if you'd like," Nathan threatened, holding the can of cream out in front of him again with his finger hovering over the button.

"Don't you dare," Haley said. "In fact, give me the damn can."

"Nope," Nathan responded, unable to keep the grin off his face.

"Nathan…" Haley warned.

In response to Haley's warning, Nathan pushed the button down so that a tiny bit more cream landed on her body. "Oops."

Haley had had enough and she tried to reach up to grab the can of cream from Nathan's hands, only his reflexes were too quick for her, and before she knew it, he had thrown the can of cream overboard. "What the hell, Nathan!" she screeched at him.

Nathan couldn't help but laugh at Haley's sudden outburst. She couldn't stand up because otherwise the cream, which was already melting, would run right down her body, and there were no towels in sight, so she was stuck laying on the mats, which he found hilarious.

"I can't believe you've done this to me!" Haley said. "Get me a damn towel."

Nathan didn't particularly want to get Haley a towel so instead, he crouched down, reached his finger forward and gathered a big slather of cream on his finger and had the intention of licking it off, but before he could do that he felt Haley shiver underneath his fingertip and he immediately stopped his hands from moving any further. The whole atmosphere shifted again and the air became thick with anticipation instantly. He looked earnestly into her eyes, wanting to find out if she felt it too. "Are you okay, gorgeous?" he asked.

Haley gazed into his blue eyes and nodded her head. "I'm fine, Nathan," she responded, and then bit down on her lip. She wasn't fine really, if she looked at the situation pragmatically. She was laying on a boat in the middle of this massive lake, with her stomach covered in melting cream, and all because this man, her best friend, had simply touched her, she was reduced to a withering mess, feeling this incredibly strong surge of needing him rush over her body. The craving she felt for him was increasing, until she really thought that she wouldn't be able to take much more. How could things shift so suddenly between them? She really didn't understand it. However, she also knew that now was not the time to be asking such deep questions, not when she wanted him so much. She tried to convey just how much she needed him through her eyes, and she breathed in and out slowly and deeply, watching as Nathan's eyes grew darker than their usual bright, blue colour, which only served to cause her to want him even more.

Nathan nodded his head at Haley's answer, and instead of believing what she had said to him, he chose to believe what he could see from the expression in her eyes. He continued to move his fingers over Haley's stomach, licking his lips when he felt her shudder again. Once he had gathered enough cream, he moved his finger up to his mouth and licked the cream off, all the while looking at her right in the eyes. "It tastes good, gorgeous, do you want some?" he asked, moving his hand back to her stomach so he could gather some more cream. If she didn't want any, then he was happy to keep enjoying it himself. He watched as she bit down on her lip, obviously trying to bite back the moan he was pretty certain was building up inside of her. He gathered some more cream and then lifted his finger to Haley's mouth. "Try it."

Haley opened her mouth and felt Nathan's finger pass through her lips. She closed her lips around his finger and sucked on it, moving her tongue around to make sure she got all of the cream off it. She watched as Nathan's eyelids grew heavy and when he began to pull his finger out, she raked her teeth lightly over his skin, causing him to groan a little. She then watched as he straddled her and began to lower his mouth down to her stomach, her eyes completely hooked on him in rapt fascination as he began to lick all the cream off her stomach. She felt his warm breath hit her skin as more and more of it was exposed, causing her to shudder once more as he combined his licks with kisses. The cream quickly disappeared, yet he still continued to kiss and lick his way around her stomach. She knew exactly what he was doing, he was teasing her now, and so, in retaliation, she grabbed onto his arms and lowered him down slightly so that she could hook her legs around his waist. She could feel his arousal through both his shorts, and given that all she had on was a skimpy pair of bikini bottoms, she began to move her hips slightly to give him some friction. She heard him gasp quietly at her actions and she stifled a grin, but then he began to nip at her skin. She couldn't help the moan which fell from her lips in response to his actions and her hands travelled along the sides of his body until she tangled her fingers in his hair, pulling on the strands in an effort to get him to keep continuing his ministrations.

Haley was moving against his cock at a much quicker pace now, but it was still torturous, because Nathan knew exactly how close he was to feeling her without the two barriers of fabric in the way, and it was something he wanted greatly. The friction she was providing wasn't nearly enough to keep him sated and he craved so much more than she was currently offering him. He moved his mouth further up her body, stopping when he reached her bikini top. "You should have just left this off," he said as he moved his hands underneath her body and untied the two bows on her back, pulling the fabric away from her body and discarding it to the side of where they were laying.

Haley felt Nathan's lips move towards her nipple and she moaned loudly when she felt his mouth cover it, loving the way that his tough circled her nipple. She raked her nails through is scalp down to the nape of his neck, tightening the grip her legs had around his waist, pushing him closer to her so that she could increase the pressure. She tried to move her hips so that his cock was running over her clit, but just as she found the right angle, she felt his teeth bite down on her nipple, causing her to hiss a little. She breathed in deeply and felt his mouth leave her breast, moving slowly down her body. His fingers were following suit, and when he reached her bikini bottoms, she lowered her legs from around his waist so that he could take them off her body.

Nathan threw Haley's bikini bottoms to the same place as her top and then crawled back over her body, lowering his mouth to her leg, placing a kiss just below her knee. He continued to move his mouth up her leg, running his tongue around her knee before he peppered kisses along her thigh. He was getting closer and closer to her pussy, which he badly wanted to taste. Any other time, he would have continued to move down her other leg, waiting until she begged and pleaded with him to put his mouth on her, but he could actually smell her arousal and it was turning him on so much he didn't possess the self-restraint to deny himself for any longer than he already had. He sucked on the skin right at the top of her thigh as he moved one of his hands to her pussy, running his finger through her folds, groaning when he found her absolutely soaking and ready. "You feel so wet, gorgeous," he mumbled into her leg, before his fingers ran over her clit and then he lowered them to her entrance, slowly pushed two of his fingers inside of her, watching in fascination as they disappeared.

Haley gasped as she felt Nathan's fingers press inside of her and she lifted her hips off the mat, desperately wanting them to go deeper inside of her. He twisted them inside of her and then stilled his motions, so she lowered her hips back down to the mat but as soon as she her skin touched it, she felt him curl his fingers and move them back out of her, rubbing against her g-spot which caused her hips to buck off the mat again. "God, Nathan, that feels so fucking good," she moaned, and then gasped when she felt his mouth move unexpectedly from her thigh and felt his tongue flick her clit lightly.

Nathan groaned as his tongue moved against her clit, hearing her gasp in response to his ministrations. He moved his fingers out of her and added a third, spreading her and increasing the pace, curling his fingers each time they moved out of her so he continuously hit that spot, the one he knew brought her to orgasm really quickly. Pressing his tongue against her clit, he circled it a couple of times, before sucking it into his mouth. He could feel Haley wiggling and he moved his free hand to her torso, pressing down lightly in an attempt to stop her movement.

Haley forgot all about her inhibitions, in fact she was pretty sure she couldn't even remember her own name right now, as Nathan increased the movement of his fingers and pressed his tongue in a ferocious rhythm against her clit. Her orgasm was building quickly and she moved her hands back into Nathan's hair, pulling on it as her thighs clamped together around his head, her entire body shaking with the force of the intense shock of pleasure which rushed over her body. "Yes, God, yes," she cried out as her body continued to shudder as wave after wave of sensation flooded her body.

Nathan felt Haley release the death clamp her legs had on his head as he rode out her orgasm with her, slowing down both his mouth and his fingers. Once her body had stopped shaking, he moved both his hands up along the side of her body, caressing her hips, her waist and then moving up to her breasts and he continued to run his fingers on the underside of them, watching as she shuddered slightly. He raised his head and left a trail of kisses along her stomach, moving to her left breast where he licked a circle around her nipple and then sucked it into his mouth, hearing Haley suck in a sharp breath. He captured her nipple between his teeth and tugged gently on it, hearing her moan and feeling her shift underneath him, before he released it. He really didn't think he could ever get enough of her. He crawled up her body and settled himself on top of her, resting his forearms beside her body, staring into her eyes.

Haley was still struggling to catch her breath as she gazed into Nathan's eyes while he hovered above her. She licked her lips, suddenly realising that they felt far too dry and she saw his eyes peer down at her mouth for a brief second before they returned to connect with her gaze. Once again, those feelings from last night began to creep into her head, but she batted them away as quickly as they had tried to infiltrate her thoughts. She bought her hands around to the front of his shorts and pulled them off his body, watching as he kicked them down his legs. When he moved back on top of her, she wrapped her arms around his back, pushing his body down onto hers, wanting to feel his weight on top of her. She looked intently into his eyes and despite just having had an incredibly powerful orgasm, she didn't feel remotely satisfied because she wanted his cock inside of her, she desperately wanted to rekindle that amazing feeling she knew was waiting for her once he was inside of her.

As Nathan lowered his body onto Haley's so that he was covering her, he felt the tip of his incredibly hard cock press against her still very wet pussy, and he heard her gasp at the contact. He realised that she was probably still feeling a little bit sensitive after her first orgasm. He continued to stare into those gorgeous, brown eyes of hers, getting completely lost and not wanting to be anywhere else right now. He really hoped she knew just how much she meant to him.

Haley could feel Nathan right where she wanted him to be but he was looking at her with this bemused expression on his face. She rocked her hips as best she could and would have grabbed his cock with her own hands but as she lowered her hands down his back she realised that she couldn't reach him. She was that desperate for him she sighed heavily in exasperation. "Nathan, enough with the waiting, please," she moaned, wondering what was causing the hold up.

Nathan snapped himself out of his thoughts when he heard the desperation behind Haley's voice, and he berated himself for thinking about all of that now, when he had a sexy and willing Haley laying underneath him. He had plenty of time to tell her how much she did mean to him, if she didn't know already, though he was pretty sure she did. He lifted his hips slightly, causing his cock to brush against Haley's clit, to which she muttered an expletive under her breath and he smirked slightly to himself because he had just confirmed that she was definitely still sensitive. He grabbed a hold of his cock and slid it between her folds before pressing inside of her slowly and releasing his hand.

"God, I love this part so much," Haley muttered as she closed her eyes, savouring the sensation of feeling so filled by him. She then opened her eyes after a few seconds and found that Nathan was staring at her intensely again, and she raked her nails up his back as she felt him begin to move in and out of her slowly, pulling himself nearly all the way out before filling her with his cock again and again.

Nathan didn't rush his movements because he didn't want it to be over quickly, he wanted to appreciate being so close to her, and he wanted to relish this intense connection he had fostered with her for as long as was possible. He felt her hands move into his hair, and he groaned when he felt her tug sharply on it, because he really liked it when she did that, as she was obviously finding out, given how often she did it to him.

Haley rocked her hips against him, trying to get him to increase the pace a little but she realised after a few rounds that he wasn't cooperating with her. He completely took her by surprise, however, when he grabbed onto her legs and pushed them up so that her legs were now resting above her shoulders. The new angle felt so deep and so amazing, she couldn't help but tell him so. "Nathan, that feels so good," she moaned.

Nathan groaned as he upped the pace because the new angle meant that he was moving deeper and deeper inside of her, which felt absolutely sensational. His mind was filled with this complete craving and need for her, causing him to up the pace slightly. He ran his eyes up and down her body, until they rested where they were joined and he groaned once again, completely mesmerised with the sight because he kept on seeing his cock disappearing inside of her, which was one of the biggest turn ons in the world. He tore his eyes away and ran them back up her body until they rested on her face, finding her mouth open and her eyes closed as he continued to pump himself in and out of her. He upped the pace even more and heard Haley moan in appreciation. "Is that how you want it, gorgeous?" he murmured as he repeated his actions over and over again.

"Fuck, yes it's what I want!" she cried out, unable to hide just how much she was enjoying herself. She wrapped her hands around Nathan's neck, digging her nails into his skin as she began to feel her second orgasm build quickly inside of her. Her breaths were coming much shorter and were beginning to feel much more laboured than usual. She arched her back and dug her head into the mats, unable to hold back the oncoming pleasure any longer. "Nathan, God, yes, I'm gonna..." she moaned loudly, unable to complete her sentence as she felt her orgasm take over her entire body, causing her to shudder and clench around his cock. She felt Nathan continue to pound into a few more times before he stopped, groaning her name as he came deep inside of her.

Nathan stilled his movements and threw himself down on the mats beside Haley. His breathing was fast and erratic; much like hers and his heart was beating wildly, his body covered in a light sheen of sweat from the heat of the sun. He felt Haley move so that she was resting on his chest and her lips pressed onto his skin as she sighed contentedly. He lifted his arm and wrapped it around her, tracing idle circles on her back.

Haley wasn't sure how much time passed, but the gentle rocking of the boat was causing her to get a little sleepy. In an effort to keep herself away, she started to draw patterns on Nathan's stomach. "I love how peaceful it is here," she said.

"So do I," Nathan responded. He had his eyes closed and jumped a little when Haley hit a particularly sensitive part of his chest, but he soon got used to the feel and began to relax again.

"Nathan?" Haley asked.

"Hmmm," he responded.

"I wouldn't want to be on this boat with anyone else in the world either," she said and then pressed her lips against his chest, leaving a kiss right above his heart.

Later that evening, Haley swayed in time to the music as the jazz pianist continued to play once their dessert plates had been taken by the waiters. She watched enviously as couples danced on the dance floor, really wanting to be out there herself. She took another gulp of her wine, finishing what was in her glass and pushed her chair back, wobbling slightly as she stood up, realising that she'd obviously drunk a lot more wine than she thought. "Come on, Mister," she said as she held her hand out towards Nathan over the table once she had steadied herself.

"Come on, what?" Nathan asked, wondering what she had in mind.

Haley smiled sweetly at Nathan. "I want to dance."

Nathan groaned begrudgingly. "Really, Hales? You know I don't like dancing."

"And you know that I do. Please, Nathan," she said and pouted at him a little, knowing that he'd say yes anyway because he was Nathan. And he was powerless to resist the super pout.

Nathan shook his head and sighed as he looked up at her face. She knew he couldn't resist that look that she was currently giving her. He placed his napkin from his lap onto the table and pushed his chair back. "Come on then," he said as he took Haley's hand and led her to the middle of the dance floor, wrapping his hands around her waist and feeling Haley's hands wrap around his neck.

Haley looked around at all the other dancers on the dance floor. There was a real mix of young and old, and she couldn't help but find it incredibly endearing as an older couple to the right of her danced in a perfect ballroom dance effortlessly. She wanted something like that when she was older. She looked back at Nathan and looked into his eyes, wondering who he would end up with when he was that age. She hoped he ended up with someone who deserved to be with him, because he really was the most amazing person on the planet. However, she could see that Nathan was distracted by something.

Nathan held onto Haley as he shuffled around in a circle. He could feel his mind beginning to wander down that unwelcome path, the 'what next' path. However, he'd made a decision not to think about what was going to happen to his and Haley's relationship, at least while they were at this hotel. So in an effort to shake it off, he began to think about the various meetings he had lined up next week, and what preparation he was going to need to do once they got back to the apartment tomorrow.

"Hey, stop thinking so much," Haley said as she brushed her hand over Nathan's shoulder, and then wound it back around his neck.

"Sorry." He looked down at Haley and sighed heavily, shutting off all his thoughts of work. "You do look beautiful tonight," Nathan said as he continued to look at Haley who staring up at him with her big, expressive brown eyes. She had definitely caught the sun today, and had a healthy glow about her, which simply added to her sexiness in his opinion. She was wearing a beautifully simple black, strapless dress, one which he had of course packed for her, and she looked absolutely stunning in it.

"Yeah..." Haley responded and rolled her eyes slightly as she continued to sway to the music coming from the grand piano sat on the centre of the stage. She stared up at Nathan, and ran her eyes over the white shirt he was wearing. She didn't know what happened but a sudden rush of need coursed its way through her body. Maybe it was the wine, or maybe it was the fact that they had just had the most amazing day together, but either way, she had to have him, right this instant. "Come on."

Nathan frowned as Haley grabbed onto his wrist and began to lead him through the throngs of couples who were all dancing on the dance floor. He really didn't know where she could be leading him. He would have stopped her, but curiosity meant that he allowed her to lead the way.

Haley led Nathan out of the jazz bar and marched him towards the men's bathroom, a grin appearing on her face as she released Nathan's hand and pushed the door open, before she grabbed a fistful of his shirt and pulled him inside with her.

Nathan opened his eyes as wide as they could possibly go as Haley forced him into the bathroom with him, and what she had planned dawned on him. "Gorgeous, what are you doing?" he asked, unable to keep the shock, and the anticipation out of his voice as he walked backwards a few paces.

Haley locked the door and walked over to where Nathan was standing, pushing him up against the wall and pressing her body onto his. "What do you think I'm doing?" she asked in a sultry tone as she ran her hands up his chest and began to unbutton his shirt.

"Haley, this is a public bathroom, we're in a respectable hotel, there are people out there..." Nathan began to protest. He looked down and watched as Haley continued to unbutton his shirt, knowing that he wasn't doing a very good job at putting a stop to this insane act. If he really didn't want to get caught, he could place his hands on top of hers and stop her. He knew that, and by the look of things so did Haley, because she was grinning at him wildly.

"The door is locked," Haley said as she finally reached the last button of his shirt. She pulled it out of his pants and took a step back, admiring his finely sculptured chest. She ran her finger right down the centre of his chest and over his abs, until she got to the button at the top of his pants. She then looked up at Nathan from underneath her eyelashes. "You don't want to?"

Nathan couldn't ever say no to Haley when she was looking so damn sexy. Not that he wanted to say no. He didn't think he'd ever be able to say no to the opportunity to be inside of her, to be connected to her in that way ever. He looked down at her and watched as her finger began to play with the button of his pants. He could feel his cock begin to stir and he knew that there was no turning back now. He moved his hands to Haley's hips and pulled her sharply towards him, making sure that she could feel how much he wanted to have her. "What do you think?" he whispered hotly in her ear, before he moved his mouth to that special point on the side of her neck and began to place a line of kisses all the way down to her shoulder.

Afterwards, Nathan rested his forehead against Haley's, waiting for both of their breathing to calm down a little. Pulling away from her a little, he looked intently at her face, the post-orgasmic glow looking incredibly sexy on her. Just as he was about to speak, he heard someone outside the bathroom door.

"Hello, is anybody in there?"

Haley froze completely, praying that she had locked the door properly. She started to unhook her legs from around Nathan's waist but he stopped her, and she watched as he put his finger to his lips, telling her to be quiet.

"I swore I heard noises coming from inside."

Haley couldn't help the giggle which escaped from her lips and she felt Nathan's hand cover her mouth in an effort to stop the noise. She couldn't believe that there had been someone standing outside while they had been having sex inside the restroom. She should be embarrassed about it, but she actually found the whole situation hilarious.

Nathan waited for a good two minutes, and when he didn't hear any more noise from the man who was outside the restroom, he lowered his hand from Haley's mouth. "I think he's gone," he whispered.

Haley unwrapped her legs from Nathan's body and slipped down onto the floor. She shook her head at Nathan, a huge smile on her face. She pushed him back a little so that she could open the cubical door and as she walked through she turned her head over her shoulder. "That was so funny! Can you imagine if he heard us?" she said as she stepped back into her dress and pulled it up over her body again.

"I damn well hope he heard nothing!" Nathan responded. He pulled his pants and boxers back on and then began to button up his shirt again.

"Oh, come on, Nathan. You have to admit it is kind of funny," Haley said as she looked in the mirror, wondering how she was going to make her hair look like she hadn't just been having restroom sex.

Nathan walked out of the cubical and found Haley scooping her hair up into a messy ponytail. "If we got caught, it wouldn't be funny at all."

"Well we didn't get caught did we? Are you honestly going to tell me that you didn't enjoy what we just did?" she asked, knowing fore well that he had enjoyed it just as much as she had.

"I didn't say that I didn't enjoy it, gorgeous, just that it could have been really bad if someone found us doing that in here," he answered.

"Like I said, no one found us. No one will even know what we just did," Haley said, satisfied that her hair looked presentable. She turned herself around so that she was facing Nathan. "So how are we going to slip out of her unnoticed?"

"I have no idea, but I think we should go back to the hotel room and get some sleep. We've got to go back tomorrow," Nathan replied. He wished that they could stay here a little longer, but he had a big pile of work waiting for him and given that he'd been ignoring his Blackberry, wanting to instead just enjoy his time with Haley, he was sure that he had a mountain of e-mails waiting for him too.

Haley didn't want to think about them going back to New York right now because she was having far too much of a good time here with Nathan. She patted her dress down and smiled up at Nathan. "How about I slip out first and meet you by the reception desk? Then we can walk back together." she asked.

"Sounds like a plan, gorgeous. Just don't trip up on your way out, okay? The last thing we want is to draw attention to ourselves."

Haley glanced over at Nathan as they drove away from the resort which had been their home for the past two nights. As much as she had loved the trip away, she wasn't so sure that things, as Nathan had promised her, really could keep evading them. Surely there had to be some consequences as a result of what they had been doing with each other? And the almost kiss was almost a huge wake up call, which they seemed to just be brushing under the carpet. The worry immediately began to eat away inside of her, and she began to wring her hands together and bite down on her lip.

Nathan turned out of the resort and could feel the anticipation of returning to New York begin to creep along his veins. However, he banished it as quickly as it had arrived. He wasn't going to go down that road, not after having just had an amazing weekend with Haley. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Haley begin to wring her hands together and he quickly grabbed her hands with one of his, knowing exactly what she was thinking about. "I meant what I said, gorgeous. Nothing is going to affect us. We're always going to be us," he said with as much conviction as he could muster.

Haley grabbed onto Nathan's hand, grateful for the reassurance he was offering her. She had managed to convince herself that now they had left the security of the resort, things would start to change immediately, which clearly wasn't the case. However, she did begin to wonder how much longer they could keep running away from this elephant which seemed to be growing bigger and bigger each week. She just prayed they had enough strength to withstand the stampede she could feel approaching.

**AN – I promise to get teasers for the next chapter out to you much sooner, so the same problem doesn't happen again!**

**As with the last chapter, there is a deleted scene from here too... I got asked to write a one shot for 6 x 23 from a few people so the deleted scene is kind of my Never Say Never twist on that!**

**Let me know what you thought of the chapter, or if you want any extras (teaser or deleted scene or both) by leaving me a review! :o)**


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